A new beginning
by LightningWolfHowl
Summary: The children of the Legion are expected to one day become Legionnaires themselves but a force of evil that even the Legion might not be able to defeat doesn't plan to let that happen. CB/SG; BB/TG; TW/PG; LL/OC; SB/DG; B5/SV; Rated T cause I'm paranoid
1. Chapter 1

It was six o'clock, the sun was beginning to set over the city of New Metropolis. The front door to a small suburban house on the outskirts was sung open violently then slammed shut loudly. The boy responsible stormed through his house and headed up the stairs. He had short dark brown messy hair, a broad build and pink eyes. He ran into his room and shut the door.

The noise attracted the boy's father's attention he looked away from his cooking and came to the bottom of the stairs. His wife soon joined him, she could sense her son's distress. They exchanged a worried glance and started to come up the stairs it was unlike their son to behave like this. He knocked on the boy's door.

"Zephyr? You ok?" Asked Rokk Krin, no response "I'm coming in with your mother."

He opened the door and walked in. The kid was sitting on his bed looking out of the window. He turned to face them, one of his eyes was black and he had a cut lip. It didn't take Zephyr's parents more than a few seconds to figure out that their son had been in a fight of some kind. He gave them a sorrowful look. His parents came a little deeper into the boy's room. It was decorated with wall paper that represented the stars and planets but that was how he liked it.

"Are you OK?" Asked Irma, there was no answer

"What happened?" Questioned Rokk again no response

Zephyr made some hand movements which his parents carefully watched and interpreted. A movement towards his head and then over his lips. _No telepathy._ That was how he usually communicated, the boy had been born with damaged vocal cords making it impossible for him to speak. He could however use his own form of sign language.

"Why not Zephyr?" Asked Rokk

"_Got hit by a beam that removed my powers_." He acted out

"I'm guessing you were in a fight." Said Irma

"_Yes... Against, Dacian and his friends._"

"Why?"

"_He removed my powers so I couldn't speak. Called me a freak" _

"Oh, I'm sorry... Do you want some ice for that eye?" Asked Rokk

Zephyr shook his head, Saturn Girl gave him a brief hug. He was clearly quite shaken up. Rokk shook his head in dismay, this wasn't the first time this had happened. For some reason, his 14 year old son was constantly being given grief by other teens. To his credit, Zephyr usually took it in his stride but tonight seemed to be somewhat different. Irma's legion ring started to beep.

"Oh! I forgot that I'm on monitor duty I'll call them and say..." Zephyr shook his head

"_No, mom... I'm fine, you go..."_

"Ok... But you promise not to be upset while I'm away?"

"I'll look after Zephs, Irma." Said Cosmic Boy

"**Keep an eye on him Rokk, he's really upset..."** She said mentally

"**I thought the word freak disappeared in the 21****st**** century"** snarled Rokk, the ring beeped a little louder

"Urgh! I'm coming!" Sighed Saturn Girl

"_Careful mom, don't do another Pluto..." _

"Less lip from you Zephy! You've spent too much time with Garth!"

"Irma! Don't insult the boy! Garth can't come up with wit like that!" Laughed Rokk

"_Come on! When mom got captured on Pluto, I had to spend an entire weak sorting out the insurance with dad!" _

Saturn Girl smiled warmly at her son and husband, her family followed her down the stairs. She had left her costume at the Legion HQ as always and was ready for another all nighter on patrol. She'd much rather spend the time with her husband and only child but didn't really have any choice in this matter.

"Be careful!" Said Rokk as she was about to leave

"Don't worry. You take your medicine!"

"I will..." Said Rokk

"You say that but you forget! Come on, now so that I'm not worrying!"

"_Mom's got a point dad... You do forget!"_

"Urgh... Consider yourself lucky Zephs and hope you don't end up like me when you're older!"

Rokk chuckled and pulled out of his pocket a little box full of pills. He swallowed some before shaking slightly and grimacing. Irma watched him and smiled sympathetically. She gave him a hug and kissed him gently on the cheek. It was enough to make Zephyr stick his tongue out in disgust. The adults chuckled and Saturn Girl have her son a kiss on the forehead.

"You look after him!"

"I will..." Said Rokk

"What makes you think I was talking to you?"

Zephyr's mouth moved as if he was laughing and waved his mother off; using her ring she flew off. His eyes were full of wonder and pride, that was his mother! There was however also a glint of sadness. Every time his mother flew off on a mission, he felt lonely. The boy turned on the holographic projector and searched the channels to see if anything good was on, every now and then he would let out a deep sigh. This didn't escape Rokk, who kept a worried eye on him from the kitchen. Today was spaghetti bolognaise. When it was ready he called his son to the table, Zephyr came dragging his feet and sat down at the table unenthusiastically. He pushed the food around the plate.

"So what did you do in school today?"

"_Nothing much, I got an A for maths."_

"That's great Zephyr! You're a lot better than I was at school that's for sure." His son smiled slightly before pushing his food around some more "You're not eating... You do realise I cooked the food right? Not your mother."

"_I know."_ Zephyr smiled before frowning _"It's not the food dad... I'm not hungry. Is it ok if I go to my room?" _

"Yes of course."

Rokk watched as his son went back upstairs. He let out a deep and regretful sigh before putting the dishes in the dish washer. Zephyr had barely eaten anything... If he was Irma, he'd be able to check what was going through his son's head but he wasn't telepathic. He decided that the classical form would have to do. He went up the stairs and slowly opened the door, his son was lying on his back with the window open listening to some people yelling at each other in the street. He turned his head as his father came in, Rokk's pupils shrunk and his eyes widened as he felt a familiar presence in his mind.

"**Can you hear me?"** Asked Zephyr, his voice was about than that of his father's when he was his age but somewhat softer

"Yes." Replied Cosmic Boy, he always made an effort to speak as normal even when Zephyr was using telepathy

"**Dacian's powers must have warm off." **

"You feel like talking about that?"

Zephyr looked at his feet then back up at his father. Rokk had learnt that despite not having a voice, the boy was very expressive, you needed to watch everything that he did to understand. He didn't just use his hands. The kid's pink eyes always had something to say. The people outside continued to yell and Rokk wondered if he'd have to go outside and chase them off.

"**Do you think they know?" **Asked Zephyr **"How lucky they are to be able to yell like that."**

"Maybe but... A lot of people take it for granted, you know. I know I used to."

"**I can't imagine you being mute, you've always got something to say."**

"Oh, I talk a lot but I don't say anything."

"**That's not true..."**

"I'm glad you think that." Said Rokk with a smile "But enough about me, I might not be telepathic but I can see you're not yourself. Is it about what Dacian said?"

"**It's just... I'm tired of people thinking that I'm a freak or there's something wrong with me..."** He admitted

The people in the street were walking off now. The father thought about what his son had said and walked over to him, he put an arm around Zephyr's shoulder. He run some ideas through his head trying to figure out which words would best comfort his little boy. He had some idea of what Zephyr was going through but not to the same extent, that was for sure...

"It's hard son I know but... What really counts is showing others that there's nothing wrong with you and you can still carry on. You're strong Zephyr, you can do that!"

"**I'll try..."** Rokk smiled somewhat

"And you know what, just between you and me... Don't tell your mom..." He bent down to whisper into his son's ear "Next time that brat gives you a hard time how about giving him a headache he won't soon forget?"

"**I'm not supposed to use my powers for that sort of thing..."** Stated Zephyr

"Pft... You're starting to sound like your mother."

"**And you're starting to sound like uncle Garth."**

"Don't insult me Zephy."

"**Dad! Only mom can call me that!" **

Garth Ranzz was a family friend and a fellow legionnaire of Saturn Girl. He often paid him a visit or they went to see him but for some reason which Zephyr didn't care to ask, his father seemed to have somewhat of a playful rivalry with him. Once again, the teen's face clouded over, Rokk looked a little bit more worried. He couldn't recall seeing Zephyr in a state like this before.

"There's something else isn't there?" Deduced Rokk "-and it's about that eye of yours"

"**I didn't get into the fight because Dacian called me a freak that would be stupid."** Sighed Zephyr **"I got into a fight because -cause... He said that you were a pathetic excuse for a dad and that mom must have been mad when she married you."**

Rokk raised an eyebrow, he hadn't thought that Zephyr would get into a fight over him. He raised his gaze to the starry sky. The man's dark eyes looked up as spaceships flew over head, his son was doing the same. He let out a deep sigh and drew his son a little closer to him.

"You don't have to do that you know... I don't like seeing you coming home with a black eye." Said Rokk

"**I know that!"** Snapped the teen **"But you're such a great dad. I can't bare to see them say ****those things about you. I wish- I wish they could see that powers aren't everything." **

Rokk frowned and cratched the back of his head thinking. Then he gave his son a harsh look. Zephyr looked somewhat worried. Pink eyes met dark purple as the two Krins exchanged glances.

"Is that what's been bothering you since you came in?" Asked Rokk, Zephyr nodded "Well then I'm just going to have to use my superpower on you."

"**What?"**

"You heard me! Prepare yourself for the ultimate noogie of surrender!"

"**What? Dad no!"**

Too late, Rokk grabbed Zephyr's head and got him in a head lock, the teen struggled briefly and gently knuckled his son's head. The boy smiled warmly and his face showed that he was laughing. His father smiled lovingly at his son's expression. After a few seconds, he released him. The boy's hair was in a mess, he tried to sort it out and gave his father an exasperated look. Rokk grinned.

"**I thought you'd stop doing that when I turned ten!"** Said the boy

"I'll stop doing it when you stop smiling." Replied Rokk "Come here you!"

Zephyr smiled and gave his father a hug. At fourteen nearly fifteen Zephyr still had some growing to do if he wanted to catch up his father who was still a very tall man with broad shoulders and his son knew he was stronger than most humans. Other than his mother, he couldn't imagine someone he'd rather talk to more than his father.

"Zephyr Ardeen Krin, you are my son and the only respect I need is yours and that of your mother. I don't want you getting into trouble over me. You have nothing to prove."

"**I know..."** Said Zephyr pulling away

"There's something I want to show you!" Declared Rokk

Zephyr walked after his father and stopped outside his parents room. He wasn't normally aloud in there but his father signalled him in. The room was a simple one with a bed, a wardrobe... Just as he had imagined it to be, Rokk was currently searching through the bottom of the wardrobe. He pulled out a large leather book with the legion's golden seal on top. He walked out with Zephyr following, he went into the living room and sat down on the couch. Zephyr sat next to him, Rokk opened the front page of the book, there was a note it read _**"To Rokk and Irma, from Garth". **_

"This was a wedding present from Garth, I'll give that light bulb one thing- He sure can make a good book."

"**Uncle Garth made this?"**

"Yes." Chucked Rokk "He made it by himself too."

"**What is it?"**

"Look."

Rokk turned the page to reveal a picture of a young boy with brown hair smiling next to another boy with red hair and a girl with blonde hair. They were all in swim suits. Zephyr stared at it for a few seconds. He knew he'd seen those people before they all looked so familiar but he just couldn't quite put names to the faces. Rokk smiled seeing his son's confusion.

"Perhaps, I should fill you in..." He said, pointing at a picture of the red haired boy "That's Garth."

"**Really? He's still got both arms..."**

"Yes, it was the early days if the Legion." Rokk said before chuckling "Very early..."

"**Hang on... So this is mom!"** Said Zephyr pointing at the picture of the girl, his father nodded **"And this, oh man, that's you!" **

"That's right... Hm, I'd forgotten how scrawny I was."

"**These are the family photos!" **

"You got it kid!"

Zephyr smiled as they flicked through the photo album. There were quite a few photos of his father, mother and Garth. Then came those of the wedding which had Zephyr sticking his tongue out several times in disgust. They laughed at some of young Zephyr playing football with his father and mother.

"We really need to do that again sometime." Said Rokk

"**You're on! First to fifty goals!" **Challenged Zephyr

"Think you can handle it champ?"

"**You bet!" **

"Then I accept your challenge." Rokk looked at his watch "Goodness! Is that the time? Bed time Zephy!"

Rokk was given a brief telepathic jolt from his son who glared at him. It was like being given a small static shock in the head just enough to make him jump.

"**It's Zephyr or Zephs! Only mom can called me Zephy!" **

"Right, get to bed sport!" Zephyr smiled warmly before looking a little unsure again

"**Dad, how can you relax knowing that mom's out there, getting shot at?"** Asked Zephyr, Rokk sighed

"Your mother is a very strong and brave person Zephyr, she is more than capable of looking after herself besides she's part of the Legion they look out for each other but..." Rokk hesitated "In answer to your question... I don't sleep."

"**Goodnight..."**

"Goodnight."

Zephyr switched back into sign language for a second, he placed on of his hand over his heart and then faced it towards his father. Rokk imitated the movement. It was simple really, most people could probably figure it out. It meant, I love you. The teen smiled and turned his back before heading back to his bed. Rokk watched his son go up the stairs and turned the page again, his eyes fell upon a picture of the entire Legion taken over 16 years ago. He looked at the various faces some which had changed more than others. He let out a deep sigh and closed the book before returning it to the wardrobe and heading to his own bed. He lay awake as always, praying silently for Irma. As usual, he wouldn't sleep tonight.

…**...**

**Author's notes : Zephyr uses his own form of sign language not the real one **


	2. Chapter 2

Rokk sighed deeply, it was 9.30 and the boy still wasn't awake! He let out an exasperated sigh and started to go up the stairs. He knocked on the door but didn't get a response. He opened the door and looked in. Zephyr was sprawled out on his bed, his feet were hanging over the side. Rokk walked over and shook him gently. Zephyr swatted him away. His father sighed and picked up a bottle of water. He knew his wife wouldn't approve but the teen slept like a log and there was no waking him up sometimes. He pored a few drops on the boy's head. Zephyr jumped up instantly knocking his father flying through the room.

"**Dad? Spro-" **

"Mind your language Zephyr!" Rokk warned as he picked himself up "I came to say that breakfast is ready. It's pancakes, you like?"

"**Do I?"** Chuckled Zephyr telepathically

"Maple syrup?"

"**As always!"**

Zephyr headed towards the door but as he passed his father picked up the bottle of water and threw it over his father before heading down into the kitchen _"I'm too easy going..."_ Thought Rokk. He knew it was a problem, even if Zephyr was a pretty good natured kid, there was a side to him that only those who truly knew him well had seen. It was somewhere between mischief and spite. Just every now and again it would appear as a glint in the teen's eye.

Rokk smiled and plated up the pancakes before covering them in maple syrup. It was a warm sunny day outside. It was Saturday so there was no school and Rokk didn't have to go to work. Zephyr enjoyed his father's cooking, it was far better than his mother's who wasn't a naturally gifted cook, she tended to do the DIY after Rokk had famously knocked a hole in the wall while trying to hang a picture. It was pretty funny thinking back to it but the rest of his family had been less than amused at the time.

"Get showered and dressed after you're done." Instructed Rokk

"**OK. Why? Are we going somewhere?"**

"Yep."

"**Where?"**

"It's a surprise."

Zephyr smirked as did his father. The boy's head was already running through the possibilities. He couldn't think of anything obvious that they could go and do and eventually decided that he'd just have to wait and see. After finishing his breakfast he did as his father said. At ten o'clock, he was waiting in the living room for his father. He was wearing some baggy trousers and a blue T-shirt. Rokk arrived dressed in much the same way but with a red t-shirt. He grabbed a rucksack and headed towards the front door.

"Come on bud." Said Rokk leaving with Zephyr in tow

They decided to walk to the centre of New Metropolis, it was quite a long way but the sun was shining and it was nice and warm. It took them a little over two hours to make the centre of New Metropolis, the park to be precise. Zephyr looked around he had been through here several times but never really stopped for long. The city was far higher than the little suburb he lived in. So he felt a bit disoriented not to mention slightly tired.

"**Where are we going again?"** Zephyr asked

"We're here." Announced Rokk

He pushed apart some bushes to let Zephyr see. He almost fell backwards in shock. Less than 300 feet away, lay the HQ of the Legion of Superheroes. He had seen it on TV and heard his mother describe it but he hadn't ever seen it with his own eyes. The large tower seemed to dominate the skyline. To Zephyr amazement his father started to walk towards the Legion's headquarters.

"**Dad what are you doing?"**

"What does it look like I'm doing Zephs?"

"**Civilians aren't allowed in!"**

"They'll make an exception."

"**But..."**

"Quit worrying sport, do you behave like this with your mother?"

"**Only with shoes. Usually she doesn't take me on a trip that could get us sent to the science police!"**

"Relax!"

Zephyr shook his head in dismay and followed his father, he could see science Police a few feet away but it looked like the route chosen by his dad would take them round them. He wondered just why he was doing this and just what was going to happen if they were caught by Legionnaires trespassing. The child of Saturn Girl or not he had no idea how the crime fighting force of the galaxy would react to finding him on the grounds of the HQ with his dad.

The duo successfully tip toed all the way to the main door. If it wasn't for his father's very calm demeanour Zephyr was certain that he would have been panicking. Rokk knocked on the main door, while keeping an eye on the science Police officers to busy chatting to notice them. A small flap in the door opened revealing a man's blue eyes. He looked at them in annoyance.

"No civilian's aloud buddy!" Warned Bouncing Boy "Clear off!"

"Come on Chuck! It's me!" Replied Rokk

"Rokk?"

The door opened to reveal a round man in a blue superhero uniform. He seemed to study Rokk for a few seconds before making a huge smile. Zephyr gave his father a puzzled look, he might of chosen to read Bouncing Boy's mind if it weren't for the fact that he had been warned not to read stranger's minds if they didn't pose a threat or without permission.

"It really is you!" Bouncing Boy rushed forwards and gave Rokk a hug "It's great to see you!"

"You too!"

"And who is this?" Asked Chuck turning to Zephyr

"**Dad, uh... Could you tell him please?"**

"Of course..." Bouncing Boy looked somewhat puzzled as for him, Rokk was speaking for no reason "This is my son, Zephyr. I'm not sure if you remember but he can't speak."

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot."

"**Could you tell him it's not a problem?"**

"He says it's not a problem."

"You two are talking?"

"It's telepathy or sign language." Rokk explained "He was wondering if he had permission to talk to you telepathically."

"Of course, fire away!"

Zephyr closed his eyes. It didn't take him any effort at all to create a link with either of his parent's minds, they were used to it as was he. With other people however it was more complex, their minds often tried to unwillingly defend themselves but he was pleasantly surprised with Bouncing Boy, he seemed to be used to it probably due to contact with his mother.

"**Hi."** Said Zephyr

"A pleasure to meet you, kid." Replied Chuck "Why don't you two come on in?"

"Sure. That would be nice." Said Rokk

"I'll tell the others you're back."

"I don't want to cause a fuss."

"Ah! Don't worry! Hey guys! Rokk's back!"

Zephyr couldn't believe it as he walked inside, there were several heroes flying around busy doing their own things. They all turned to look at the newcomers. Eyes widened as they saw his father, he wondered why. He looked pretty ordinary. Triplicate Girl, Phantom Girl and Timber Wolf rushed over. They exchanged glances.

"It's been a while!" Said Timber Wolf

"It sure has..." Rokk looked around uneasy at the ever growing crowd "This is Zephyr."

"Nice to meet you." They said

"So what bring you back after all these years?" Asked Phantom Girl

"Well, we were going to give Irma a little surprise when she comes back." Rokk explained

"We were?"

"What is going on here?"

Zephyr turned again as a green man appeared. Zephyr recognised him instantly as the leader of the Legion, Brainiac 5, now they were in for it. The heroes turned towards him but he teen swore he could see a small smile creep on Rokk's face. Brainiac starred at the two new arrivals for a moment before he too smiling but soon regained composure.

"Well, well Rokk Krin."

"It's good to see you Brainy."

"You two and you must be Zephyr." The teen nodded slightly intimidated "Your mother talks about you a lot. To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"We were going to surprise Irma when she comes back and I also had a sudden nostalgia attack."

"Well make yourselves at home, how about giving Zephyr a tour of the base? We're a bit busy with a scavenger attack."

"I understand... Uh the base hasn't changed too much has it?"

"Not really... You'll see."

Rokk smiled and nodded before walking off, he knew the importance of letting the Legionnaires do their job without interference. Zephyr followed in awe at his new surroundings perhaps his dad's surprise trips weren't that bad after all. They walked into the centre of the building there was a huge golden plaque with at least fifty names inscribed upon it. Zephyr read them : Lightning Lad, Bouncing Boy, Blok, Tharok, Shrinking Violet... All famous names.

Then he noticed that some had dates behind them : Bouncing Boy : 3008-3009; Brainiac 5 3019-3921/3026- ; Phantom Girl : 3021-3022; Lightning Lad : 3022-3026 Cosmic Boy 3006-3008/3009-3019. He wondered what it meant.

"Well, this is new..." Said Rokk

"**Any idea what it is?"**

"Looks like all the Legionnaires."

"**What about these dates?" **

"Hm... These must be their time as leader of the Legion." Said Rokk "Yeah, that must be it I recognise some of these dates. Brainy's still in office which is why there's no closing date. Hey! How come no one ever told me Garth was in charge of the Legion?"

"**Brainiac's been in charge a long time but not quite as long as Cosmic Boy was. Strange... I don't think I've ever heard of him before but if he was in charge all that time you'd of thought I would of."**

"This is new as well." Said Rokk looking around some more

They went into another room, it was far darker and there was no natural sunlight. They found themselves bumbling around trying to find a light switch, eventually Zephyr stumbled into it. Some lights turned on lighting up two statues. Father and son looked more than slightly confused and stunned. Zephyr walked over to one representing a man with a mask, the plaque at the statue's foot read _**"In the honor of Ferro Lad; The first Legionnaire to die doing battle with the sun eater : August 3**__**rd**__** 3009"**_

He walked over to the one his dad was starring at. Zephyr let his mind gently wonder towards that of his father's trying to discreetly check his emotional state of mind. What he sensed surprised him, Rokk was truly upset, there people meant something to him. He walked over to the other statue and read the inscription_** "In memory of Karate Kid; Although he had no powers he still fought more bravely than any of us. Died during an explosion after saving Brainiac 5 : June 2nd 3019" **_

"It was the same explosion that damaged Garth's face and left him blind in one eye." Explained Rokk

"I'm sorry dad, did you know them?"

"Yes, I met Ferro Lad when I was a boy, not much older than you are now. He was really great guy, he was only in the legion for a few days and he saved countless lives."

"Sounds like a real hero."

"He was... Karate Kid, well... I can say in all certainty that he was ten times the man I am. I shouldn't of treated him the way I did..."

Something inside Zephyr told him not to pry. He could see the look of sorrow on his father's face and knew that he would be better not to question him any more. Instead, he sent a "telepathic hug"before going to read a plaque that had been lit up as well. Unlike the others it didn't have a statue to go with it but was a simple brass plaque. He read it_** "In honor of Cosmic Boy; died before the birth of his child after being tortured by Brainiac 1.0 but never gave away any information; 1**__**st**__** of January 3019"**_

"**Man, poor guy..."** Said Zephyr, Rokk came over and frowned at the plaque **"Did you know him?"**

"No, I can't say that I did."

"**We were told about the Brainiac-Legion war in school, the teacher said it was the single worst year in living memory." **

"They were dark times all right, entire planets fled to the furthest reaches of the galaxy to try and protect themselves. Karate Kid and Cosmic Boy were not the only casualties believe me!"

"**Well, at least the Legionnaires were busy..."**

"You wouldn't of put it that way if you'd of been alive at the time."

"**But that must have been about the same time you and mom got married, if I was born in 3019." **

"Yes, your mother was actually pregnant with you during the entire war. You were born, a little over two days after Brainiac was defeated."

"**That must have been hard for mom."**

"It certainly was, I might be a man but I know that being pregnant can be tiring for women at the best of times let alone during a war where they were expected to be fighting on the front line!"

"**What were you doing at the time?"**

"Nothing much..."

Zephyr was quite good at reading his father's facial expressions, he could tell that he was lying and he wanted to know why. His eyes glowed faintly pink as he tried to enter his dad's mind. He got a flash of a huge robot and some laughing before being brutally pushed backwards by a large stone wall. His eyes met his father's, Zephyr instantly knew he'd stepped over the limit. Although not himself telepathic, Rokk had more than enough experience with them to be able to push back one's mind if they weren't forcing. His father's purple eyes were perhaps the coldest Zephyr had ever seen them. He realised he was actually afraid of his father.

"Zephyr! Get out of my head this instant!"Rokk commanded darkly, the young telepath obeyed, his dad pinched his nose seemingly slightly tired "You know you are not allowed to do that, Zephyr! We are all allowed our privacy, it is wrong for you to infringe that of others!"

"_But you were lying!"_

"For my own reasons! This not a subject open for debate!"

Rokk turned his back, trying to calm himself down. Zephyr was stronger than he knew, it had taken far more of the man's strength to push back the boy's mind and he hadn't even been forcing. He wouldn't be doing that again any time soon or at least so he hoped. _"Another one of those, I'll have a seizure."_ Rokk thought to himself. He turned back, Zephyr was now sulking, _brilliant_...

"Come on let's go get something to eat." He decided

Zephyr glared and followed his father. Rokk walked trough the Legion HQ with Zephyr walking behind him looking at his feet. He didn't like seeing his son sulk like that but couldn't let him do whatever he wanted either. They approached the exit, Rokk figured that they could go and get some food somewhere and come back after lunch. As they were about to leave, two men and a woman came through. They starred at them before one of the men made some huge dagger things appear out of his hands.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He asked

"Easy Kell. It's Rokk!" Said Zeohyr's father

"Rokk? What are you doing back here?" Asked Shrinking Violet "Not that we're unhappy to see you or anything."

"Just came to surprise Irma and pay you all a visit."

"Is she back early?" Asked Kell

"No we were just going to get lunch."

"Stay! The cantine's open." Said Star Boy

"You're sure we're not going to be getting in the way."

"Don't worry!"

Rokk thanked them and they went to the Legion cantine. It was pretty busy with all the Legionnaires who weren't out on patrol busy eating. They were given some odd glances by mainly the new heroes who had never heard of Rokk Krin. They were wondering just what a man and his son were doing eating in their HQ. Was it some sort of odd publicity stunt? Zephyr decided he better keep his mouth shut making Rokk unsure of his next course of action : He didn't want to give the boy a row for not speaking.

"Hey, meet me at the end of that hallway once you've finished." Instructed Rokk

He walked off, leaving Zephyr alone, he ate his food as quickly as possible so as to be able to catch up with his father. He ran down the corridor which emerged into a grassy courtyard. He had just enough time to catch a football that was thrown towards him by his dad. Rokk smiled as the boy raised an eyebrow.

"You said, you wanted to test your skills!" Said Rokk "Come on sport, first to fifty goals."

"**You're on!"**

Zephyr kicked the ball at his father, who seemingly effortlessly stopped it. The boy watched in awe as he started to do effortless kick-ups. He kicked the ball a little higher and spun it round on his finger like a basket ball. Zephyr blinked several times and starred. Rokk chuckled.

"What?"

"**You're good..."**

"I was the galactic champion of a ball game you know."

"**You were?" **

"Yep. I think it's about time I teach you." Rokk put the ball down and kicked. It went flying straight past Zephyr into the goal.

"**Whoa..." **

Rokk smirked at his son's amazed, look. Zephyr picked the ball back up and kicked it again. Rokk laughed as they started to play. For the rest of the afternoon, Legionnaires walked past and watched the two playing some of them smiled others gave them odd looks. It was six o'clock when Brainiac 5 walked on to the balcony and looked down into the courtyard. The score had long since gone past, 50 goals but they didn't seem to mind. Of course all the laughter they could hear was Rokk's but Zephyr's face said that it was laughing as well. Brainy smiled warmly.

"Daddy!"

Brainy turned as a 8 year old girl ran over to him. She had green skin but dark hair. He smiled lovingly and picked her up in his arms. Violet came over as well. Ema was their daughter, she was quite small probably due to her mother, then again Brainy wasn't that tall either.

"Is the boy staying?" Asked Ema

"Maybe." Answered her dad "It depends."

"It's nice to see them again." Said Violet

"Yeah, I didn't think Rokk would ever come back."

"Zeppo seems to have done him some good."

"It's Zephyr and yes I'd say so." Agreed Brainy

The Coluan looked back down at the father son down bellow, then at his own family. The galaxy had been relatively peaceful for the past few years meaning that he like many other Legionnaires had been able to forge his own little family with Shrinking Violet. He enjoyed this new peace like so many others.

It was later that night at around 9 o'clock. A broad shouldered man made it into the HQ exhausted after his night patrol. The silence around him alarmed him. He walked around, for a moment before heading for the lounge. He figured there had to be some Legionnaires in there! He was naturally cautious as he walked through the base however, he made sure never to drop his guard. A hand grabbed him by his shoulder, he spun around to see Brainiac 5 and relaxed.

"Brainy what's with you?" Asked Lightning Lad

"Keep your voice down!" He replied pointing in a room

Garth and to turn his head at a slight angle to see into the room. He smiled. Rokk and Zephyr Krin were sitting one the couch, fast asleep, head to head. Both of them were very heavy sleepers and not about to wake up any time soon. Yet another thing, he had learnt the hard way.

"Now, even I'll admit that's cute but I thought that Rokk didn't want to ever come back..."

"Well apparently he made an exception for Zephyr." Said Brainy "They're planning to surprise Saturn Girl."

"Well they certainly will, she'd about a quarter of an hour away."

"Someone should wake them up..."

"I'll deal with that."

"Lightning Lad no!"

Too late, Garth wondered up to the couch and starred at the sleepy heads. Smiling he gently pushed the boy away from his father, the teen slumped over still sleeping on the couch. Garth charged up his canon and zapped Rokk. The man yelled in surprise more than pain and jumped about three foot into the air. Then he landed flat on his face. The look of furry and annoyance on his face made most of those present laugh.

"GARTH!" Roared Rokk "You little..."

"Come on Rokk, let's keep this PG -16!" Said Garth pointing at Zephyr "By the way, hiya chief!"

"_Good to see you uncle Garth."_

Lightning Lad watched Zephyr's hand movements carefully, he could understand them but not quite as well or as easily as the boy's parents. The right side of Garth's face was badly scarred after an explosion, it had also blinded him in that eye which seemed to be permanently misty. He smiled and switched into sign language himself.

"_So what do you think?"_

"_It's pretty cool!" _

"_Sure is..." _

"Where are Elbe and Drake?" Asked Rokk

"Oh, my parents took them. They said I could do with some time _away from the pressures of single fatherhood."_ Sighed Garth "I'm adult and more than capable of looking after my children! I wish they would understand!"

"There just trying to do what they think is best for you and the children." Said Brainy

"It's kinda hard to be a dad when your parents treat you like a child!"

"You are a child Garth." Smirked Rokk

"Don't make me fry you in front of the kid!"

Zephyr shook his head and smirked. He noticed that Brainiac 5 was doing the same. He decided that he quite liked being around the Legion head quarters and hoped that he could come back again some day. His eyes widened suddenly sensing the presence of his mother. He quickly tried to mask that of himself and his father. Before jumping up and down to get Rokk's attention, he was still arguing with Garth.

"**Mom's on the way!" **He told them, he knew that it was automatically yes to communicating telepathically with Garth

"So you going home Irma?" Asked Dream Girl's voice from down the corridor

"Yes of course, I can't wait to see Rokk and my son."

"Ah yes, how is Zeppo?"

"It's Zephyr and he's doing fine."

"**Why does no one ever get my name right?" **Asked Zephyr

"**I dunno..."** Said Rokk

"**It's more than four letters long maybe it frazzles their brains."** Chuckled Garth

Irma came into the room being followed by Dream Girl and Star Boy. Her eyes instantly fell upon her son then her husband. She looked a little surprised and walked over to them with a warm smile on her face.

"Well this is a surprise."

"That was the whole point!" Said Rokk

"I like it thank you..."

"**See anything interesting?"**

"No, absolutely nothing. What about you?"

"**Dad gave me a tour, well, I get the feeling he's not too sure where everything is himself."**

"Hey..."

"**You walked us into a closet!" **

"It looked like the way to the lounge!"

"They haven't been causing any trouble have they Brainy?" Laughed Saturn Girl

"Asides from consuming vast quantities of the Legion's resources? No."

Irma laughed. Garth gave the family a warm look and thought about his own. He should be with them but as he has already made pretty clear to Rokk, Brainy and Zephyr; his parents weren't convinced he was capable of looking after his own children. He stretched and yawned before announcing.

"Well, I'm going to hit the hay. Tomorrow, I'll go and threaten mom and dad again."

"Make sure they don't think it's a real threat!" Said Brainy "We need you with us in the Legion not locked up somewhere!"

"What I want to know is why mom and dad take it all out on me, Phoenix's parents don't."

"Phoenix's parents were the ones who dumped Elbe and Drake on your doorstep with the note saying, what again?" Argued Brainy

"And I quote : _Your children, you look after them_."

"Didn't you ever try to find Phoenix?" Asked Dream Girl

"I've searched the galaxy, if I go anywhere near here parents they soot at me and she's not there anyhow." He answered

"**Man, you really do have a lot of bad luck."**

"I wouldn't be me without it chief! Anyhow goodnight you lot."

Garth walked off leaving, the Krins and Brainy. They exchanged a few words before deciding to head home. Irma was exhausted from her night shift, despite it being very dull.

"So where did you guys park the car?" Asked Saturn Girl

"Uh... We walked." Said Rokk

"What? That must have taken two hours!" Said Brainy surprised

"**Two and a half."**

"Ok, we better start walking then."

"Or you could stay here." Offered Brainy

"Really?" Asked Irma

"Yeah, there are some spare rooms and it's all for friends right?"

"Thank you." Said Rokk


	3. Chapter 3

It was Monday morning, Brainy was walking around the Legion HQ. Ema had long since gone to school as had all the other children. Almost all of the Legionnaires were in the HQ as there was no trouble and no missions. Yet again it looked like it was going to turn into a boring day. Yet there was something in the air that made Brainy uneasy. He couldn't quite place it, he felt like something bad was going to happen or perhaps currently happening. There had been no distress calls or anything, so why did it feel like there had been.

He spotted Colossal Boy sitting in a corner by himself. As the leader of the Legion he knew that it was his duty to go and see what was up. He walked over, the other Legionnaire didn't seem to notice his presence. He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"Colossal Boy is something bothering you?" Asked Brainy

"It's nothing, I'm just a little nervous that's all. I keep thinking about Xio."

Brainy raised an eyebrow, Colossal boy was feeling the same as him? Xio was his son, the giant Legionnaire had somewhat ironically married an Imskian, someone from the same planet as Shrinking Violet. It was odd though. Slightly worried, he went to find Saturn Girl. He had to check something. He found her looking out the window in a different room.

"Hallo, Saturn Girl. Could you please scan all the Legionnaires present? Check their state of mind?"

"All right..." She closed her eyes "They're worried, all of them, you and me included."

"That's what I thought... Thank you."

Brainy left for his lab. Despite the fact, that he was now the leader of the Legion, he still retained his old laboratory and liked to sometimes lock himself inside of it to get away from the pressures of leadership. It had another more practical purpose however, he turned on the computer and started to search for any possible cause for the Legionnaire's bad feelings. So far, no distress calls or anything. In a way it was good in another it was bad, now he'd have to figure out what the cause of the problem was.

He was about to leave when the computer beeped frantically, it was a distress call. He turned to read it. His eyes widened in shock and horror as he realised what it meant. The Legionnaire leapt out of his chair and rushed through the HQ. He ran into the lounge, the Legionnaires too jumped up, they instantly knew that something was up, it was unlike Brainiac 5 to get so worked up over nothing.

"The schools are under attack!" He yelled "Saturn Girl try to contact Zephyr!"

"I'll try!" She said

The heroes rushed out of their HQ, heading towards both the High School and elementary. Both of which were under attack. Of course they were scared withless, there were a grand total of six of their kids out there : Zephyr, Ema, Drake, Elbe, Xio, Dacian (the son of Nemesis kid and another Leigonnaire) and Aria (Phantom girl and Timber wolf's daughter). Why would anyone attack kids? Saturn Girl succeeded in contacting her son but was having a lot of trouble.

"**Mom?"** Asked Zephyr

"**Zephyr! What's happening?"**

"**Uh... Giant robots, they're everywhere... They've caught Aria!" **

"**What about you?" **

"**Well, let's just say I'm going nowhere fast..." **

"**Is anyone with you?"**

"**Yeah, Xio's out cold and Jude and Elbe are hiding under a table. There not interested in the others, it's just us!" **

"**Stay hidden."**

"**Easy for you to say!- Sprock! They've found us!"**

"**Zephyr! Zephyr!" **

Saturn Girl opened her eyes still flying though the air. She lost some attitude from shock, Zephyr's mind had stopped receiving. _Please, let him be unconscious..._ She prayed. It might be an odd thing for a mother to wish for but it was far better than the alternative... She caught up with Brainiac 5, unsure what to tell him. She couldn't reach Ema either.

"Brainy... The kids in the High school are in trouble, I can't reach Ema."

"We'll split up, you come with me and the more experienced half of the Legion, the rest of you go to the elementary! Move it people!"

The Legionnaires split up. Soon some smoke became visible on the horizon, Brainy's heart went into his mouth he hoped that Ema was all right. She was at the elementary school and alone at least the teens had each other to rely on. As they approached they soon saw the attackers. There were three giant robots storming around. The robots were at least thirty foot tall and resembled giant squids.

The Legionnaires landed in the school courtyard, just in time to get out of the way of a rocket that had been fired by one of the robots. The school certainly had taken a beating. Several walls had collapsed but there was no sign of the children. Garth eyed up one of the robots and prepared to blast it. Suddenly a figure rushed into him knocking the Legionnaire clean off his feet. He struggled for a moment before recognising who it was.

"Drake!" He said

"Dad don't shoot!" Yelled the boy

Drake was a bit smaller than Zephyr, probably due to his younger age and had slightly longer platinum hair much like his uncle Mekt. He had electric blue eyes like his father and slightly tanned skin. He was wearing a black jacket, with jeans. The boy pointed up at one of the robots, the adults gasped as they figured out what was wrong. Up under the ship was held a small cage, they could only just make out a girl with black hair's figure inside of it.

"Aria!" Yelled Timber Wolf recognising his daughter

"Dacian's up there too!" Drake informed them

"Drake where are the others?" Asked Garth

"We're here..."

A girl with red hair appeared. It was Drake's twin, Elbe. She looked more than slightly shaken. The girl was shaking, she had chestnut eyes and was smaller than her brother. She ran to her father and gave him a hug. Then from behind a pillar limped Zephyr carrying a little boy with spikey black hair in his arms. He staggered over to the adults before collapsing on the floor, Irma instinctively rushed over to him. He had a deep cut on his leg.

"Is he ok?" Asked Brainy as Colossal boy picked up Xio

"He's too weak to use telepathy..." Said Saturn girl "There, there. It's ok, no one's going to harm you."

"I beg to differ..."

A horrific pain hit the Legionnaires knocking them to their knees. The cause became apparent when the Legion of Supervillains appeared, they'd hoped that after all these years they might have stopped attacking them but no they continued. Esper was currently giving them a powerful mental blast. Saturn Girl knew that she had to do something. She looked at the other Legionnaires then at her son, she gently put a hand on his forehead to protect him from the mental blast she was about to create. With him being telepathic the blast might cause him some severe and possibly permanent damage.

Irma concentrated hard before unleashing the blast. The Legion of supervillains staggered backwards and Esper herself fainted. Saturn Girl smiled before feeling strangely weak, everything started to spin and become darker. She slipped unwillingly into a healing trance. The rest of the Legionnaires had by now recovered and were once more ready to fight. At least now they could fight someone without running the risk of harming the children.

"Drake and Elbe get Saturn Girl, Zephyr and Xio to safety!" Ordered Garth

"You get em' dad!" Said Drake struggling to drag Xio.

As Elbe tried to move Zephyr, the teen's pink eyes opened. He managed to get to his feet by himself before limping over to his mother. Elbe gave him a helping hand in carrying the knocked out telepath. Lightning Lad did what he did best and took a few pot shots at Tyr who was forced to get out of the way. Thankfully, the LSV was a member down since Cosmic Boy's last stand, they no longer needed to worry about Wave.

There was a crash as Colossal boy stormed into Hunter, trying to flatten the villain. Ron-kar turned into a giant bull creature and charged Brainy and Timber Wolf knocking them backwards. The teens winced as rubble flew around them from the battle. They kept on peering round the corner of what was left of a wall that they were hiding behind to see what was happening. A deflected bolt of lightning narrowly missed Elbe making her father lose his concentration and get knocked down, Hunter prepared to finish off the Legionnaire with his spear.

"No!" Screamed the children

Elbe and Drake broke cover. They eyes began to glow a blue colour. Then they unleashed two small bolts of lightning, the effect for Hunter was much like a static shock but it was enough to make him jump. It was all the distraction that Garth needed to knock the villain away from him. He soon found himself face to face with Ron-kar however. Brainy's eyes widened as he realised what was happening.

"They're trying to keep us away from the kids!" He yelled

One of the robots managed to blast him in the back. The leader of the Legion collapsed, out cold. Elbe and Drake's paths were blocked off by a robot. Two large tentacle things came down from the ship and grabbed the twins before delivering a brief electric shock which knocked them out. Zephyr tried to yell to inform the Legionnaires but remembered that they couldn't hear him. This was going to be one of those decisions he was going to regret later on, he could feel it. The teen picked up a rock and lobbed it at the robot. It did...

Absolutely nothing. All that happened was the robot put Drake and Elbe in the cage secured under it then turned it's attention on Zephyr. Already wounded he knew there was no chance of him outrunning the machine. One of the tentacles tried to grab the teen but he was able to get out of the way. A small canon appeared out of the side of the third robot and fired a net. Before the teen knew what was happening he was caught. He struggled desperately trying to free himself. This, he knew was bad... The other Legionnaires were wrapped up in their fight and his mother was currently K.O. Zephyr's mind reached out to the only other person it could.

…...

"Krin! Go turn up the furnace!"

"Yes sir!"

Rokk walked over to a burning furnace and turned a nob increasing the heat suddenly. He was covered in oil and dust. His uniform which had been a brilliant white when he had started working was now a messy brown and torn in several places. He went back to his workplace where he was busy trying to hammer a piece of metal back into shape. He picked up his hammer and resumed his bashing. He winced as sparks flew past his eyes, he knew that he should wear goggles.

"I bet you never thought that you'd be helping repair her." Said his co-worker a man called Tim

Rokk turned his head to look at the cruiser in the hangar. It belonged to the Legion of Superheroes and had been recently damaged in a Scavenger attack and now their job was to repair it. He starred back at the large slab of metal with the Legion symbol on it before letting out a deep sigh. Tim looked at him sympathetically.

"Why d'you even give up that job anyway man?" Asked Tim "You had everything! The team, the self-esteem, the girls were at your feet... I mean no offence but here you're a nobody that the rich folk spit on!"

"Yeah, I know but heck I lost that all, a long time ago and maybe I like being a nobody..." He said before smiling vaguely "Besides I got Irma and Zephs."

"You're right there, I'd kill for what you got..."

"Hmph... There's someone out there for you Tim."

"Me... Nah... I'm a nobody." Rokk looked back at the cruiser "You really do miss that life don't ya?"

"Sometimes more than you can imagine."

"It sounds like you need a stiff drink. What d'you say we get a few rounds after the shifts over?"

"Sure not to much though... I'm trying to get off of the drinks."

"Suit yourself..."

Rokk was about to answer back when he felt Zephyr's mind, it felt distant and somewhat dreamy. The father raised an eyebrow confused, the boy had never done this before... It was also the weakest that he'd ever felt, he wondered if it was just the distance but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt like something was very wrong.

"**Dad..." **Zephyr's voice was weak and sounded broken

"**Zephs! What are you doing calling me?"** He asked trying to hide his worry

"**There are these robots at the schools! They're taking us!"**

"**Is the Legion with you?"**

"**Yeah but there not doing so great and th-" **

Zephyr's voice stopped dead and Rokk felt his presence suddenly disappear. He became aware of his surroundings once more. He had to do something! He looked around in a blind panic, nothing in here could help him, he needed to get to the school pronto! His boss seemed to have picked up that something was wrong.

"Krin? Is there a particular reason for you running around like a headless chicken?" He asked

"It's my son, sir, he just contacted me! He's in trouble and so's the Legion."

"Well, then what are you waiting for take them their cruiser!"

"Yes sir! But uh... Is it ready to fly?"

"Yes of course she is! Now go!"

"It takes two to fly. I'm going to need help!"

"I'll go!" Volunteered Tim

The two workers rushed inside of the ship. Rokk might have been nostalgic if it weren't for the fact that his son's life might be on the line. He jumped into the pilot's seat and started up the engines while Tim dealt with the rest. He put his hand on the controls and hit the accelerator. The ship jolted backwards making the people inside hit their heads on the seats. Perhaps, seatbelts would be a good idea. They started up again this time flying forwards and leaving the hangar.

"Looks like you haven't forgotten." Said Tim

"I never had anything to forget, I didn't normally fly this thing."

"I can't believe that I'm on a mission with the Legion of Superheroes!"

"Uh... Reality check please! We're mechanics giving them back their ship!"

"You're such a kill joy- whoa!" The ship did a barrel role "Careful! Do you know what you're doing?"

"Please..."

Rokk sped up slightly. They had to make it... Just just had to.


	4. Chapter 4

Garth yelled in pain as the LSV blasted him in the chest, he was the last one standing and trying to protect Brainy and hold him up. They hadn't been this badly creamed in a while. His one remaining eye darted around trying to keep track of all of his attackers and searching desperately for his children. He couldn't see them, were they hiding? His vision blurred brutally as he was hit in the chest by Tyr, he dropped Brainy. He was hit again.

"It's been a while since we were able to beat you up like this." Said Tyr

Hunter grabbed Garth keeping him standing. He struggled but had the wind knocked out of him as Tyr hit him in the stomach and again and again. He looked around, all the others were K.O no way were any of them going to help any time soon. The beating stopped for a moment allowing the Legionnaire to cough up some blood. He glared at the villains, challenging them, they could of course kill him easily but like cats they liked to play with their food before they ate it.

"You're getting old..." Laughed Ron-kar

"You're older than I am..." Garth pointed out

"Then how about admitting that we are your elders and betters..."

"Not... Going... to happen..."

"Oh well..."

The beating started up again worse. Everything was going dull and getting darker, he was either going to pass out from pain or this could be the end. He didn't know how much more he could take, Tyr's super-strength had certainly broken several of his bones. The pounding stopped for a second, even through his blurry eyes he could see a faint green glow,_ oh no... _He thought to himself.

"What are you doing?" Asked Emerald Empress

"Just having some fun with Sparky here." Explained Hunter, Garth groaned in pain

"Well finish him off! You've got the kids right?"

"Of course!" Said Ron-kar "Hey, why don't you finish him off?"

"Urgh! If you want!"

The empress floated down towards Lightning Lad, who gave her a look of pure hatred. He wished that she could feel all of the pain he was currently in. It'd serve her right. His own lack of strength and powerlessness annoyed him. He saw the eye charge up, this was it... His entire body told him to look away but his spirit told him to maintain a cold glare at her. One last defiant act... There was the sound of laser beams, the eye jerked away slightly and blasted him in the face. Everything went black...

…...

"Man, I can't believe it! I'm shooting at the eight most hated villains in the galaxy! No sign of those robots though." Tim sounded exited "Hey Rokk, you're really pale."

"It's nothing..." He said "Keep shooting but don't hit the Legionnaires!"

The rescuers opened fire a second time. This time the villains fled. Part of Rokk wanted to chase them and shoot at them in a desperate attempt to wipe them off of the face of the universe forever but he knew that they needed to attend to the heroes first. The cruiser landed next to what remained of the school. It's two pilots got out. Rokk instinctively rushed over to Lightning Lad. The red haired Legionnaire was lying on the floor battered and bruised and covered in blood, his uniform had been scorched revealing his burnt chest. He looked like he was asleep.

"Garth..." Muttered Rokk

He jumped out of his skin as the Legionnaire's eyes opened and he tried to get up. Shaking off the surprise Rokk, pushed him back down gently. Garth shouldn't be straining himself so much... He was lucky to still be alive. The hero opened his mouth as blood came out. He lifted up his metal hand which Rokk griped in an attempt to comfort him. To his surprise, Garth pulled him down closer to him.

"The kids..." He managed "They've... They- took them."

"Don't try to talk!" Ordered Rokk

"Sa- Save them... Rokk... Please..."

"I will. Don't you worry."

"It's g-good to have you back buddy. It's almost like... Old times."

"Hardly... I should have been here... I really am useless" Rokk's voice sounded somewhat shaky like he was about to cry

"There's- Still time... Save them..."

"I will Garth! I swear I will!

Garth closed his eyes. _No... No!_ Thought Rokk looking at his childhood friend. He looked around what would only be described as a battle field. These Legionnaires needed tending to soon he could see them all lying wounded, they needed his help. He had to do something.

"Tim get them on board!" He said "The infirmary's down corridor three."

"Ok... I'm sorry."

Tim gently picked up Bouncing Boy and dragged him on board. Rokk knew that he had to help but something was stopping him. For some reason, he felt obliged to stay by his friend's side, starring blankly at the lifeless body. He wanted to turn his back, to turn back time and never of left his work. He would have been unaware of everything, perhaps that would have been better. The man felt a not in his throat, he closed his eyes and let a few tears fall down his cheeks. He spent a few more moments looking at his friend's face, that would never smile again before letting out a deep sigh and standing up.

Tim had already carried off Dream Girl, Triplicate Girl, Brainiac 5 and Bouncing boy. He was busy dragging along Colossal boy. It looked like there was only Timber Wolf and Garth left. Rokk walked over to the wolf creature, as he approached he noticed that the Legionnaire was moving. To Rokk's surprise, Timber wolf got up wincing. His eyes widened as he saw Rokk, then they fell upon Garth.

"No..." He muttered

"I was too slow..."

"Poor fool..." Sighed Timber Wolf, it was affectionate "Saturn Girl... The kids hid her behind that wall..."

Rokk spun on his heels and headed towards where Timber Wolf had shown him. Sure enough lying on her side, on the floor was Saturn Girl. Her husband knelt down by her side and checked for a pulse, it was there, he let out a relieved sigh. It looked like a healing trance. He picked her up as gently as possible, she groaned, that meant that she should be waking up soon. A faint smile traced his lips.

"I don't know if you can hear me Irma but I promise you, we'll get Zephy back..."

He carried his wife gently back towards the cruiser. Timber Wolf and Tim were carrying Lightning Lad inside. They looked at Rokk with sorry expressions before all three went back into the ship. Garth was placed on a bed in the infirmary as was Irma. Timber Wolf had a few scratches but it had been a blow to the head that had knocked him down. Rokk returned to the commands of the ship, he wasn't sure what to do now. He spotted something suddenly, it was the LSV's cruiser! Should they follow?

"Get after them!" Said Timber Wolf coming in with some bandages

Rokk nodded as sped after the enemy ship. The villains weren't shooting at them, which in it's self was decidedly odd. They wanted to leave the atmosphere apparently. Why? They too were leaving earth. A bright blue light suddenly appeared in front of the other cruiser, everyone winced to try and keep the light out of their eyes. A large portal had opened. Rokk struggled with the controls, they were getting dragged in!

The ship began to spiral out of control and shake. There were several small explosions from all over. A computer console near Tim blew up, then there was a huge explosion from the back of the ship. This one knocked those standing off of their feet. The lights became red and started frantically beeping. Timber Wolf checked the systems.

"We've lost two of our four engines!" The wolf creature yelled

"It's no good we're getting sucked in!"

Though that didn't seem to be bothering the villains, in fact they were heading straight for the centre of the anomaly. They disappeared. Another explosion. They were now heading in sideways. This was going to hurt, if nothing else. The Legion's cruiser was sucked in as well. The three people who remained conscious felt like they were running at great speed and then like space was being distorted. Then there was a deafening sound and then nothingness.

…...

LEGION HQ : Approximately half an hour before

Star Boy was accounting for all of the wounded Legionnaires, they'd just lost Sun Boy at the elementary school in New Metropolis and had lost contact with the other team entirely. At least ten others were now out of action and it didn't look like that was going to change any time soon. Star Boy let out a deep sigh, his son had been taken and his wife hadn't reported back. He turned on his Legion ring for at least the hundredth time in half an hour.

"Hallo! Star Boy here! Is anyone else receiving me! Repeat! Dream Girl! Brainiac 5! Bouncing Boy! Saturn Girl! Can you hear me?"

No response. Star Boy watched as yet another wounded Legionnaire was carried in by Lightning Lord. Mekt handed him over to one of the many volunteers who had come to help the Legionnaires. Despite being an ex-villain, the newly turned hero had proven himself to be a very useful addition to the team. He came over to Star Boy concern all over his face.

"Any news?" He asked

"No..." He sighed "I can't get through to Nura or anybody!"

"Your kid's one of them isn't he?"

"Yeah, Jethro's going to be 14 soon. He's got Nura's dream things. What about you?"

"Kids? Me? Nah... Just seeing my bro trying to cope with Drake and Elbe is enough to put me off..."

"There not that bad..."

"You obviously haven't seen what they did to my folk's house... They freak out when they're away from Garth for too long."

Star Boy smiled slightly before frowning and looking at the sky. It was raining and it sure felt like there was going to be a storm. Ordinarily he would of gone inside to avoid getting wet but he couldn't be bothered... He didn't feel like moving or doing anything other than waiting at the moment. Just then there was a bright blue light that light up the entire sky. Then there was a huge shock wave that knocked the two heroes off of their feet.

"What was that?" Asked Mekt in shock

"I dunno... Come on we've got to get whoever is still on their feet and check it out!" Said Star Boy getting to his feet

The two legionnaires rushed inside and discovered to their surprise that everyone seemed to be gathered together in a circle in the middle of the room. They seemed to be looking at something or someone curiously. They approached. Both men's eyes widened as they saw what they had been looking at.

"Superman?" Managed Star boy surprised


	5. Chapter 5

"Superman!" The legionnaires cried out surprised

"Hey guys..." He sounded less enthousiastic than usual

The legionnaires paused as they noticed that their old friend wasn't alone. He was accompanied by a shadowy figure who wore a mask. Usually, they were the ones who went to fetch Superman when they needed his help. He had never before come to the future in order to get theirs. It wasn't that they wouldn't be happy to do so, although with the timelines they'd have to be careful... The main problem today was that they had a much bigger problem on their hands. Where on earth was Brainiac 5 and half the other senior legionnaires?!

"Who's this?" Asked Mekt referring to the dark and somewhat scarry figure

"I'm Batman." He declared

"Batman?! I thought he was just a story parents told their kids to scare them!" Phantom girl gasped

"Well here's the genuine article." Superman told her "Listen, I know that you have a strict no interfering in the past policy but-"

"Superman's son and Robin have been taken from our time to yours." Batman cut in "We just bardged through the walls of time itself to get here and you're going to help us get them back."

The Legionnaires exchanged glances. Masks had gone out of fashion around the same time as capes in the 21st century. Their identies were widely known by the everyone in the United Planets; whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen and was often a subject of debate by the Legionnaires. What it meant however was that being faced by Batman was enough to put them on edge. Just then, Tyroc limped in with a wounded leg.

"Your kids are gone too eh?" He asked

"Too?" Superman questioned

"There are a grand total of seven of our kids missing. We managed to save the rest." Tyroc informed them

"Where's Brainy?" Superman asked "He'll know what to do."

"Trying to save his daughter." Dawnstar replied

"Lightning Lad?"

"His twins."

"Saturn Girl?"

"Zephyr's still unaccounted for. She's out looking for him."

"Timber Wolf?"

"Going after Aria." Phantom Girl told him sounding concerned

"Cosmic Boy?!" Superman was becoming desperate

"Factory worker."

"What?!"

Before they could continue the list of currently unaccounted for legionnaires. The base lit up in red flashing lights informing them that something was very wrong. The legionnaires looked around before scrambling to the control room. As of three years ago, it was now almost exclusively run by the younger Legionnaires who weren't quite ready to be let out on the more dangerous field missions. They had sucessfully opened a communications link with the legion's oldest and most reliable cruiser. The only strange thing was that according to the records, it was officially still being repared in the local docks.

"This is Timber Wolf. We're chasing several members of the Legion of Supervillains and Fatal Four, requesting reinforcements!"

"Timber Wolf! It's Phantom Girl! We're coming! Have you got the kids?"

"Nega- You're breaking up- There's some kind of..."

The destortion became so bad that they could no longer make out whatever the legionnaire was saying. Only static remained. The blip representing their ship suddenly disappeared off of the map. There was a moment's silence before Phantom Girl turned around. With Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad and Brainiac 5 currently MIA, she was now the most senior Legionnaire still on earth, command came down to her.

"Get every single ship we've got ready to get up there after them!" She ordered

/

"What in the universe happened?!" Brainy asked aloud as he came to

The first thing that occurred to him was that there was no gravity. They were floating around uselessly in the infirmary. That meant that there was a 89% chance that their ship had been severly damaged. There was still oxygen for them to breathe, if lifesupport was offline then that meant whatever had caused the damage had happened not all that long ago. There was also a much smaller chance of the hull being breached. Also good news. He turned his head slightly and saw Bouncing Boy struggling with Lightning Lad.

"Brainy! He's hurt really badly!" The Legionnaire declared

He could see some blood floating around the room. There was quite a few of them, still unconcious floating around the place. To his relief, he spotted Shrinking Violet, she was tending to Garth. The contense of the first aid kit were floating around, so he guessed that they had been trying to help him for at least a few minutes now. Spotting Triplicate Girl's floating body he quickly managed to get over to her; she should be okey, it looked like some of Esper's handy work... Not seeing any other option, he secured her to one of the beds and did the same for Saturn Girl, it was better than them floating around without support.

"How's he doing?" Brainy asked Violet

"Anybody else, I'd say 50/50." She declared "But Sparky here's gonna pull though. He'll be out for a few days though..."

"This would be so much easier if we had some of the electronic systems running!" Bouncing Boy declared

"I'll see what we can do." Brainy replied

He was more than confident in Violet's skills as a medic. She could have helped Garth blindfolded with one arm turned behind her back if needed. He needed to get to the control room so that he could see just where in space they were. If possible restart some of the systems. Like this, they were dead in the water. He hadn't counted Timber Wolf amougst the injured, so he figured that he was the one who had carried them on board, of course, that also raised the question of just where had had gotten the cruiser from.

He found himself getting a lot more answers but mainly more questions as he came onto the bridge. There was somebody he didn't recognise floating around unconcious. Whilst Timber Wolf looked in a control pannel where Rokk Krin of all people was attempting to do some rewiring, whilst floating upside down. Just as the leader of the Legion came over to them, the gravity came back on causing everyone to crash back down onto the floor.

"There..." Rokk muttered "Did it, we've got a little longer."

"And what exactly did you do?" Brainy asked picking himself up off of the ground

"I rewired what little energy we were giving to the engines into the life support." He explained before adding "Good to see your back on your feet Brainy."

"You can do that?" The Koluan asked skeptically

"I've been fixing this thing and ships like her for the past eight years." He replied "I learnt a few things about the wiring."

"So can you help me and-" Brainy paused for a second recalling an important detail "Your friend... Fix this ship?"

"Probably." Rokk replied "It'll take some time though..."

Great... Of course, being as smart as he was Brainy had been able to guess that almost as soon as he'd realised that life support was gone. They wouldn't be going anywhere for at least a few days, probably more. As for wharpdrive, well they could forget it. Using that would tear what was left of the ship apart. Brainiac had already worked out that Rokk and his friend, whoever he was were probably here more by accident than anything else. Trying to give the Legion back their ship having received a distress message from Saturn Girl perhaps.

"Just out of interest, what exactly happened to damage the ship?" Brainy asked

"We went through a wormhole." Timber Wolf explained

"How?"

"There was this huge portal thing that opened up in the sky..." Brin explained "We got sucked in and well... Let's just say we're not in our side of the galaxy anymore..."

"Oh sprock..." Brainy muttered as he looked out of the window of the cruiser and recognised some of the stars


	6. Chapter 6

"Is that-?!" Brainy didn't wait for them to confirm "Cut the engines! Disable the radios! Get us silent! Now!"

Those were the only words they needed to hear before they quickly got to work. They litterally removed the wiring which supplied the power to the radar. The engines were already mostly down but their humming created noise. Brainy quickly cut off all communication lines. Anything that was possibly detectable on the planet which stood before them, was turned off. They could only really aford life support and some low level electrics. Other than that, they maintained absolute silence. Brainiac paused looking back out of the window to see the planet down below.

"This is impossible... Apokolips has been silent in over a millenia." He declared

"Well apparently it's making a lot of noise right now!" Timber Wolf snarled

"Maybe... But then, when ever I heard legends of this place they said the entire fire was a light and burnt like hell itself..." Rokk spoke "This looks kind of... Extinct."

Sure enough the planet they were faced with was most definartly the feared Apokolips from times forgotten. It was a place that parents told their children they would end up if they were evil in an attempt to frighten them. Like Rokk had said however it appeared dull. There were no masses of fire like the legends said. In fact the planet seemed rather dull, as if all of it's life had disappeared. In fact, it looked rather dead.

"We're well out of United Planets durestiction..." Timber Wolf noted "Nobody comes this far out..."

"So no help's coming then..." Rokk muttered grimly

"Especially since we can't call for help they're not." Brainy declared "We make so much as a blip and they'll come for us."

"You think there's someone down there Brainy?" Brin asked

"In all honesty I don't know." He replied "This planet and it's inhabitants have been noted as dead for longer than anyone can remember but why would the Legion of Supervillains and Fatal Four take our children here?"

"Better question, how do we get them back?" Timber Wolf asked

"Well we can't do it by sitting here. Rokk can you try to get the engines online? Don't fire them up whatever you do!"

"I'll try..."

"Rokk?"

It was Shrinking Violet, she had just come up to the command bridge. The legionnaire looked at the mechanic wide eyed. For a few moments, he did the same. Both looking astonished by the other's presence. Rokk narrowed his eyes abruptly and barged past the hero giving her a glare as he did so. Brainiac Five watched concerned as he walked off. Violet took Tim's pulse, he had been left on the floor of the cruiser during the crisis but mercyfully was mearly unconcious. It was only after a few seconds that she spotted the planet.

"Please tell me that's not..."

"Apokolips? I'm afraid it is..." The leader of the legion muttered

"Brainy... Ema's down there..." Violet muttered coming closer

"I know... But don't you worry. We're getting her back. I promise..."

/

"Let us go! Stop!"

It was to that series of cries which Ema awoke. She was in a cell, directly in front of Drake. The young teen was yelling and hitting the shield preventing him from leaving. The same could be said for all the others who had been captured. She had already worked out that there was no way those forcefields were going to go down through just hitting them. She guessed he was desperate having been seperated from his twin sister. Out of the teens, Zephyr was the only one asides herself who remained calm. He sat in the corner of his cell and starred blankly at the wall before him. She suddenly realised that the cells must have been holding off her powers, if that was the case then the young telepath simply couldn't communicate with them.

"Would you cut out the noise? I'm trying to get some sleep here!"

The voice was coming from the end of the corridor. Sure enough, there were two teenage boys who looked to be roughly fourteen sitting in cells. One of them was wearing a colorful costume. Ema ran through her already encyclopedic like mind attempting to recall where she had seen it before. It belonged to the history files of the 21st century. Robin! That kid was the legendary Robin? Leader of the teen titans? He looked a little young. Unlike some heroes such as Superman, the secret identities of Batman and the boy wonder had never been discovered, many believed them to be simple myths.

"Who're you?" Asked Dacian

"Me? I'm Robin. This here's Superboy. What about you loosers?"

"Uh... I'm Elbe. This is my brother, Drake..." She introduced all of the kids

"You're not superheroes?" Superboy asked surprised

"Not exactly..." Jethro replied "See we're their kids..."

"We've got that much in common then." Robin replied "I don't suppose you could use any of your increadible powers to break us out of here."

"Most of us haven't even developped our powers yet!" Ema informed him "Besides, I think these cells remove our abilities."

"So we're stuck here then..." Drake muttered

Nobody answered. It didn't need answering. Ema could have done some increadible sum in her head and worked out what the chances of her parents and the Legion coming to rescue them were; she forced herself not to. The answer would only depress her. With no idea of where they currently were, who had taken them or why; the chances of a rescue coming were few and far between. _We'll just have to get out of here ourselves!_ Ema told herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Irma woke up feeling as if she had been sleeping for the past decade. It had been a while since she had sent herself into a sleeping trance like that one. She made a mental note to avoid doing it again... The memory of her son hit her like a ton of bricks causing her to almost jump out of her hospital bed. Zephyr! Where was he?! Come to think of it? Where was she? It took her a moment to recognise the infirmary of the legion cruiser. She wondered just how she had gone from being outside New Metropolis high school to the Legion cruiser.

"Hey there..."

A familiar voice drew her attention. It was Garth. The legionnaire was wounded, that much she could tell. He seemed to have some oxygen tubes going up his nose to allow him to breathe and he appeared to be in a little pain. Judging by the smile however he wasn't completely out of it. She cautiously sat up and looked around. Other than her old friend, the infirmary was completely deserted. She noted also that there wasn't the usual slight vibration or hum coming from the engines. They didn't seem to be moving.

"Brainy told me to ask you not to use TP."

"Why?" She asked him

"We're acting dead in the water, he doesn't want anybody to be able to tell that we're here." The legionnaire replied

"Are you okey?" She inquired concerned about her friend's wounds

"Me? Irma you should know by now I'll always bounce back!"

"Just asking." She smiled "What's going on?"

"We're in orbit over some planet. The ship's too badly damaged for us to move..." He replied "Irma, they've got the kids."

She had guessed that by now of course. Despite the strict no telepathy warning she hadn't been able to stop herself from scanning for the children's minds. Zephyr was worryingly absent. Her son was a fairy tough cookie however picking a fight with the Fatal Five and Legion of Supervillains might be a little bit too far out of his league. She was now torn, a part of her wanted to go and find out first hand just what was going on but she didn't like the idea of leaving her friend alone. He smiled as if he had been reading her mind.

"Go." He instructed "I'll be fine. Besides, there's a surprise for you."

"You get better Garth." She told him "Because we're going to get Zephy, Drake and Elbe back!.. What do you mean a _surprise_?!"

He simply smiked and didn't respond. _Guess, I'll have to find out myself..._ She thought to herself. Given the severity of the situation, she hardly found it the time for surprises and guessing games. She decided to go and see if she could track down Brainiac 5. He would explain things to her minus the mystery, besides, Lightning Lad needed his rest. It was as she came around a bend in the corridor that she collided head on with someone wearing overalls. A little shaken, she noticed she had knocked him clean off of his feet and caused him to spill what looked like a bucket of some kind of grease all over himself.

"Damn it Tim! Look where you're going would you?"

Irma was flabbergasted. That didn't happen all that often but seeing her husbend on the ship was enough to shock her into momentary silence. He wipped the grease out of his eyes and managed to open them. His eyes widened and he went slightly red from embarassement upon realising who he had been yelling at. Steadily he rose to his feet getting rid of some of the rest of the gease. He starred at his wife for a moment.

"Irma..." He muttered

"Rokk. What?! What are you doing he-" She cut herself short giving him a massive hug which he returned

"I was too slow, I couldn't save Zephyr." He muttered

"We'll get him back..." She assured him "But what are you doing here?"

"Massive accident really." He declared "I was only supposed to give this thing back to the Legion but I got a little more than I bargained for."

"I can imagine... Rokk, I'm so sorry."

"Whatever for?" He asked

"_You know what..._" She told him telepathically "_I know how hard being here must be for you._"

"Hey, it's for Zephy. I'll do anything for our child and for you."

She looked up at him and gave him a brief kiss. Despite her concerns, she could sense that their son was very much alive and well. She didn't know how she knew it, she just did. That meant that even if there was a thousend enemies between them and their children, they would save them. That much was certain. Just how they went about it remained to be seen. Brainiac 5 came walking down the corridor, he must have been alerted by the yelling. All concern vanished from his face upon seeing them.

"Good to see you're awake." He said to her

"Good to be awake." She replied

"Have Rokk or Lightning Lad filled you in on our situation?" He asked

"Kind of." She answered "We're dead in the water aren't we?"

"Pretty much. We're orbitting Apocolipse. The good news is that in the three days we've been here, there's been no sign of life coming from the planet."

"What's the bad news."

"Well, it's about our reinforcements..."

/

"Chameleon boy here! I've got nothing."

"This is impossible! How could they just disappear?" Lightning Lord asked over the radio

The legionnaires had circled every inch of space where their cruiser had last been seen. There was nothing, not a blip. They had even began to start searching for debris and bodies. Still, no trace. It was as if the vessel and all those onboard had simply vanished into nothingness. The energy scans weren't exactly coming up with anything either. Some eye witnesses had reported a giant portal opening for a few split seconds and dragging the ship with them. Any satellites who would have been able to record the event had been destroyed by whatever had happened. They were basically running out of any possible leads.

"You don't think they're-" Ultra Boy paused

"No!" Phantom girl said firmly "They're alive."

"Then why haven't they made radio contact?!" Kell asked

"I don't know... But we can't give up searching!" She declared

"We just got word that the United Planets have sent half their fleet to help us search." Dawnstar informed them "They say they owe us that much."

The legionnaires turned just in time to see the mass of ships pass by. There had to be well over a hundred there... With that many ships? How could they possibly not finding their missing legionnaires or their children?


	8. Chapter 8

"Good to see you on your feet Lightning Lad." Triplicate Girl

"Feels good to be walking again." He admitted "Hey! This switch is new!"

The redhaired Legionnaire came over to the ship's control panel. There was a large red switch which seemed to be wired into the rest of the console. Garth had only been walking around for a few minutes now and it had taken a fair bit of his strength to simply get himself out to the control bay. Of course, the first thing which struck him was the presence of Apocolipse and all of the terror which went with it. Almost all of his fellow Legionnaires were here, doing one thing or another. For the most part, they were vacant. Each and every one of them wanted to be down on the planet trying to save their children but they knew that as it stood, they were hopelessly outguned and outnumbered.

"Garth!" Brainy snapped "Don't you dare flick that switch! Don't touch that switch! Don't look at the switch! Don't even think about the switch! There is no switch, am I understood?!"

"Uh... Okey?!" He paused "What does the non-existant switch do anyhow?"

"It'll turn all the systems back on so that they can see us."

"Oh..." He muttered looking around "Hey! Where's Rokk?"

"Changing the lightbulbs in corridor 16." Brainy replied

"Is that really a priority?" The legionaire asked skeptically

"It is when Shrinking Violet's busy trying to get the weapon's system back online in the engeneering room." Saturn Girl replied

"Are they at each other's throats again?" Garth asked

"Only every time they're in the same room together." Bouncing Boy declared with a sigh

"It got so bad we had to send them to opposite ends of the ship so they couldn't bump into each other and start arguing!" Brainy told him

"You'd have thought at a time like this they might be able to put it behind them but _no_!" Triplicate Girl rolled her eyes

"I think that's hoping a little too much, Luornu." Brainy sighed "They've both got very good reasons to hate each other and being realisitic, they will never forgive each other."

There was a sigh followed by a silence. They had planned it so that the only way that either of the two bickering adults could bump into each other was if they passed through the command bridge first. Obviously, one of them did so, they would swiftly be sent back from where they came from. If there was a good reason, one of the Legionnaires would accompany them to make sure that there was absolutely no chance of them bumping into each other. Even for diner, when the other legionnaires all ate together. Irma and Brainy made an effort to eat with their respective sprouses away from the others... It was beginning to become a major annoyance.

"I should be telling my kids a bedtime story..." Garth declared solemly after a few minutes "They've been waiting to hear the end of the Gnarnub and the Pilookie."

"How does it end?" Bouncing Boy asked him

"I don't know. I haven't made it up yet!" He replied

"Saturn Girl, could you try to link up with Zephyr? As descrietely as possible." Brainy asked "I think we all need to know what's happening down there."

"I can try." She replied "If I can reach him, he can help me mask the signal."

Zephyr was the child who was the safest to reach out for. Being telepathic himself, he should find it far easier to find and sense Saturn Girl's mind. That would mean she could be more descriete and there was less of a chance that Esper or any other telepath down there would be able to detect her. Brainiac 5 wasn't too sure just what they would do if she was found out and their location was given away but waiting like this was driving everyone insane. They just had to know... Irma began to start the telepathic link.

"I've got him!" She declared surprised at how quickly she had made contact

/

"Guys we _so_ need a way out of here!" Dacian declared

"_Yeah! What do you want me to do? Think these walls away?! Oh right! None of you can hear me!_" If anybody had been in the cell with him they would have heard his telepathic complaint

"Ema any ideas?"

"Not since the last time you asked Drake." She replied

"Robin?"

"Hey! If I knew how to get out of here, I'd be walking free already!"

The teens still trapped in their cells waited patiently. For the past few days, they had been taken one by one to see the grand leader of whatever planet they were trapped on. At the moment, it was Superboy's turn to be interrogated. When they came back, the children were unharmed. In fact, Drake and Elbe had been put back in the same cell when their captor had learnt of their relation. It had calmed the twins somewhat. Zephyr was the only one who hadn't been taken yet, he suspected that was because he was the oldest as they seemed to have been proceeding from the youngest upwards.

When it came to their accomadations, he supposed that they were actually quite lucky. They had three meals a day which were actually edible. Surprisingly comfortable matresses to sleep on and their captors realised them twice a day so that they could go to the lavatories. It struck him that they were being treated surprisingly well. Which only caused their suspicions to rise. The memory of his mother and several other legionnaires being struck down was still fresh in his mind. He wondered when and if they would ever come.

"_I need you mom..._" He thought

"_Zephyr?_" A voice echoed faintly through his head

"_Mom?!_" He called out

"_Oh Zephy! Listen, we've got to keep this quiet!_" She told him "Are you and the others alright?"

"_We're fine. What about you?_"

"_As good as we're going to get. Are you hurt?_"

"_No. No... They're taking us for somekind of interogation._" He told her

"_Have you been taken?_" She asked him concerned

"_No. I reckon I will be soon though..._"

"_You stay brave. We're going to save you!_"

"_We're counting on it._"

"_I love you Zephyr..._"

His mother faded out of his mind without leaving so much as a trace. He spent a few moments blank, coming out of the safety of his own mind. Apparently the forcefields preventing them from using their powers was strictly one way. Maybe they could use that... Though for the moment he couldn't immediately see how. They had been brainstorming for the past few days and still hadn't found a possible way to escape. Or rather for all of them to escape, one or maybe two could possibly get away but not their friends...

"What happened Zephyr?" Asked Elbe

"Yeah, your eyes went all glowy and you blanked out!" Robin declared

Zephyr turned around full of optimism before pausing. There was absolutely no way of him telling them about the discussion he had just had. Well, not directly at least. Out of all of the teens, only Drake and Elbe could grasp bits of his sign language. They had known him for the longest and had seen the most of him. Even, their understanding was limited to a few basic words. Most of his communications these past few days had been through charades, it could take the others quite a while to get even the most basic of them. That was why up until a few moments ago, he had given up trying to communicate. He let out a silent sigh, he would just have to try... _This is gonna be fun!_ He thought to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

Brainy and Shrinking Violet were in corridor 7. With the weapons systems repaired, they could perhaps begin to plan a possible rescue mission on Apocolipse. Not that that was going to be easy. Still the news from Irma that their children were still alive and unharmed had given the stranded legionnaires some hope. How long they remained like that was uncertain however as it struck the 12th level intellect that whoever had taken the children hadn't done so for the company. _Unless they took them to get to us..._ Brainy thought to himself. That seemed equally if not more likely, get back at the legion through their descendants... But then why keep them alive?

"I've painted the corridor Brainy!"

Rokk! He had forgotten about him! In all truth, he hadn't really been paying any attention when Triplicate Girl had given him his last randomly pointless instructions. They now served so little purpose, that most people had stopped paying any attention to them. Repainting the corridors was one such example. Even Tim had stopped doing them, leaving his companion to work alone. Of course, a legionnaire, usually Lightning Lad or Saturn Girl would keep their friend company whilst he worked.

Almost as soon as Rokk and Violet spotted each other they stopped dead. _Here we go again..._ Brainy thought to himself exasperated. It was time for the almost daily Rokk vs Violet argument/near fight. Usually Violet ended up outsmarting her adversary who's anger would only grow and he would end up storming off in a fit of rage. For a moment, it looked like the two might actually be able to pass each other without a fight erupting. Then, Shrinking Violet spoke :

"Finally found something you're good at eh Rokk?"

"Vi..." Brainy raised his voice slightly

"Well, it's not exactly butchering an entire planet but you know- It's work!" He replied

"How dense is that thick Braalian skull of yours?! I told you I had nothing to do with that!"

"That scar says otherwise!"

"Yes, well done with that!"

"Um guys... We've got better things to do than argue!" Brainy told them

They completely ignored him. Brainy let out a sigh. Although he far preferred his organic form but he admitted that there were some times when his robot form would come in handy. Now for instance, what he desperatly needed to do was seperate the two before it turned into a fight. Unfortunatly, he lacked the physical strength to dare take on Rokk Krinn and frankly he wasn't stupid enough to try and drag his wife away. A few seconds later some much needed assistance arrived in the form of Timber Wolf.

"Again?" He asked Brainy

"Yep." The Coluan replied "Guys cut it out now!"

"Uh... I think something's wrong with Rokk!" Violet said suddenly

"What?"

Brainy suddenly realised what violet was talking about; it was clear that Rokk was no longer himself. It was his eyes. They had become wild. He was shaking with rage. Violet had just enough time to jump back as he swung a fist at her. The most imposing, Timber Wolf quickly stood in the way hoping that the sight of him would be enough to convince the Braalian to back down. He didn't even blink. He seemed to be completely oblivous to the world around him, as if all that now counted was attacking them.

"Everyone back away now!" Brainy called out loudly so that the others would hear "Saturn Girl we need you!"

With their communication devices in the legion rings turned off, they had been forced to revert to primative yelling if they wanted to get anyone's attention. The Legionnaires had backed away somewhat, fortunatly, Rokk seemed more content standing where he was. Although he barely blinked as he kept his wild gaze on them. Within a few moments, reinforcements came in the form of Bouncing Boy.

"What's going on?!" He asked before noticing Rokk "Uh... Rokk you in there?"

"Rokk?!" Saturn Girl flew in, just as her husband took a step forwards

"Has he been taking his medecine?!" Brainy asked her

"Yes." Irma replied "I make sure he does. Especially at the moment."

"Relax guys, it's Rokk. He's not going to hurt us! We're his friends!" Bouncing Boy assured them "Right Irma?"

"You guys get back now!"

"Saturn Girl what's going on?!" Timber Wolf asked

The legionnaire put herself clearly between her husband and her friends. She glarred at Rokk, as if he had now become a fearsome enemy of hers. This wasn't exactly what the others had been imagining when they'd seen her arrive. They had been expecting some calm and controled reasoning between a couple that had been together for almost fifteen years now. This looked more like they were preparing to duel to the death. After a few seconds, he let out a snarl and clentched his fists combat ready before taking a step to the side in an attempt to ger around her.

"Try it!" She threatened him

"Uh... Not quite what we had in mind!" Bouncing Boy told her

"That's not Rokk! Not at the moment at least." Irma told them

"Who is it then?" Shrinking Violet asked her

"Nobody... Just anger and hatred." The telepath replied "Vi stay quiet! The rest of you back away slowly! I'll deal with him!"

"We can't leave you like this!" Timber Wolf told her

"At the moment you're putting me in more danger than he is!" She told them "The longer there is anything that could possibly anger him here, he's just going to get worse!"

Her raising her voice caused Rokk to suddenly lash out violently in an attempt to get at the legionnaires behind her. Saturn Girl had just enough time to place herself between them once again. He took a few steps back more due to surprise than anything else. Apparently he couldn't understand her objection to his attacking their friends. His gaze changed once more, this time fixing itself upon the blonde legionnaire. _He wouldn't attack his own wife would he? _Timber Wolf wondered. He had never seen anyone behave like this, especially not Rokk. It was as if someone had just switched off his personality and replaced it with anger.

"Rokk you'd better calm down and get yourself back under control! Or so help me I'll-!"

Her eyes had been glowing as she had slowly been trying to make her way into his mind. Then, there was the sound of metal tearing. She stopped dead as the without warning a piece of metal from the wall tore itself clean away. It was surrounded by a familiar purple aura. Rokk made it hovered in the air in front of him for a few moments before slowly forming it into a spear-like shape. He aimed it straight at her.

"You've still got your powers!" Irma gasped loosing her concentration

"He won't attack will he?" Shrinking Violet asked

"Irma get back!" Brainy warned

Then, without warning it was over. There was a brief flash of light. Followed by a yell of pain from Rokk Krinn who fell to the floor unconcious. The metal spear clattered to the floor uselessly, it's puppetier no longer able to control it. Behind him, Lightning Lad approached and placed his foot on his old friend's back to prevent him from rising again whilst pointing his cannon at the back of his head.

"Sorry buddy..." He muttered


	10. Chapter 10

Garth Ranzz looked through the glass window of the infirmary to see his old friend. Curled up in a little ball in the corner of the room, Rokk had barely moved in the past three hours. Still, he figured it was better than him bashing himself against the walls like a madman trapped in Arkham. He hadn't been keeping track of how much time he had spent simply watching like this. It wasn't guilt that was keeping him here that was for sure. Rokk had been out of control and dangerous, the blast to the back was the only reasonable way of keeping him from harming others... Especially Irma.

"How's he doing?" The telepath asked walking in

"With the amount of sedatives we gave him I'm amazed he's still concious!" Lightning Lad replied "What about you?"

"Shaken. As always..." She replied

"The medecin's getting less affective..." Garth sighed grimly "I guess his body's getting used to it."

"It's him though..." She confirmed after briefly scanning his mind

"Does he know we're here?" The winiathian asked

"No. The glass is one way and the walls are soundproof." She declared "Besides... He's retreated into the backs of his own mind. We could probably be having this discussion right next to him and he wouldn't even know about it."

Lightning Lad let out a pained sigh and contemplated the little plastic tube of pills in his right hand. They had belonged to Rokk. On the side was squibbled some instructions about how often to take the pills and how. He easily recognised Brainiac 5's perfect handwriting. After all, the medecine had been his invention. He glanced inside the tube, there was only about three left anyhow. He would run out soon, especially considering that they had had to double the dosage to calm him down. He doubted that Brainy had all the materials required to create more on board the ship...What would they do then?

"What happened to us Irma?" He asked aloud

"What happened? We grew up."

"I mean, how did things get so bad?" He clarified looking at his robotic arm "Do you remember when we first founded the legion as kids? None of us ever thought that we could end up like this..."

"Garth, we were all aware of the dangers. We've all made sacrifices for the better good. Do you have any idea how many lives our Legion has saved?"

"What's the point if all of our Legion gathered together can't save our children?!" He asked her "We can't even save Rokk from himself!"

"We're going to get the children back!" She told him "As for Rokk, he's not beyond help yet..."

Lightning Lad let out a sigh and gave his old friend a brief glance. He wished that he was able to possess Irma's optimism when it came to Rokk. He no longer recognised the young lad that he had befriended on that ship all those years ago. True, he hadn't always seen eye to eye with the Braalian but they had still been close, almost like brothers. Seeing him like this hurt the same as seeing any loved one suffer would. If the old Rokk could see what he had become... Garth suspected that it would have hurt him more than anything else.

"Do you ever think about what would have happened if things were different?" He asked "What if I'd sent Rokk to the past when Brainiac attacked us. What if I had been the one killed and brought back as a clone? What if Dark Lightning hadn't-"

"You could fit the universe into a bottle with ifs Garth." Irma told him "Things turned out as they did. We can't change them."

One last if rested on the tip of Garth's tougue however. It was one that he dared not even mutter. _What if you had picked me?_ He accepted that Irma loved Rokk but that didn't stop the occasional twinge of jelousy when he saw the blonde Titanian in his arms... Of course, he loved his family, more than anything else in the world. He would die a thousend times over and still not give up Drake and Elbe. Irma was smiled softly after a few moments.

"You too eh?" She spoke

"Things would be very different." Garth replied

"Yes, they would." She agreed

Lightning Lad had only ever confessed his attraction to Saturn Girl to one person : Phoenix, Drake and Elbe's mother. By then of course, it no longer mattered. He had learnt to love a new. His heart clouded over suddenly whilst thinking about it. Sensing her friend's distress, Irma placed her hand on his. He looked to her greatfully. The telepath had always been there for him, just like he would always be there for her. Theirs was a bond stronger than mere friendship and one that he desperatly hoped they could include Rokk in once more.

"What does Zephyr think about all this?" Garth asked her

"I think, he thinks that Rokk is epileptic or something." She replied

"He can't remember?" Garth asked surprised

"No." Irma replied shaking her head "The mind's a curious thing, he banished all memories of that night to the depths of his mind. He idolises his father."

"Probably better..." Lightning Lad muttered "I'm going to tell Drake and Elbe when I find them again, it's only right that they know about Pheonix."

"You're doing the right thing Garth."

He nodded. They both turned back to look at their mutual friend. Rokk still hadn't moved. You would have said that he were a statue were it not for the fact that it was just about possible to see him breathing. Irma dared not extend her telepathy for fear of upsetting her husband any further but at the same time she knew that they couldn't leave Rokk like that indefinatly. Every second he spent locked away within the confines of his own mind, they lost another piece of the man that he used to be...

"You took all the metal out of there, didn't you?" Irma asked

"Yes." The winiathian replied "He can use any metal as a weapon."

"I know... Listen, I've got to go in there and talk to him." She declared

"Irma?! Are you insane?! You know that when he looses it, you don't mean anything to him. He'll kill you as easily as he would a member of the fatal five!"

"He's not lost it..." Irma assured him "Garth, every second he's like this Brainiac's residual programming destroys more of who he used to be. We can't let him, the real him die..."

"Okey..." Lightning Lad eventually agreed "But at the first sign of trouble, I'm taking him down!"


	11. Chapter 11

"So is everyone clear on the plan?" Ema asked

She earned a load of nods from everyone present. The kids had had enough. They weren't too sure just how long they had been imprisonned here but it was long enough for them to begin questionning if a rescue was ever going to come. Of course, there had been the breakthrough a couple of days ago with Zephyr and Saturn Girl but since then... Nothing. The young telepath's attempts to contact their parents had proved fruitless. Dacian was currently in the presence of their captor, he had been for quite some time now but then, they'd been formulating the plan for even longer. He was aware of what they would do when he came back.

"Listen Zephs, this is going to be dangerous. You don't have to-"

"**No!**" He signed cutting Ema short "**I'll do it. I'm not afraid.**"

"Be careful cous..." Elbe requested

Zephyr nodded. He was grateful that Ema, Elbe and Drake were there. With her twelth level intelligence, the daughter of Brainiac 5 and Shrinking Violet had managed to figure out most of his sign language by herself. His little _'cousins'_ had been thought some by their father and despite their younger age, he had always liked them. If it wasn't for them, he suspected that his time spent here would have been completely unbearable. The door opened suddenly and some of their captors entered dragging an exhausted looking Dacian with them. He quickly identified them as Hunter, Emerald Emperess, Esper and Tyr. They chucked the teen back into his cell brutally before coming over to see him.

"Come on you! On your feet!" Esper snapped

He wasn't too sure why but she seemed to have taken an instant dislike to him. The others by no means liked him but Esper seemed to go out of her way to torment him when possible. He wondered if she was somehow able to sense that he too was telepathic. Perhaps, she could tell that he was Saturn Girl's son, he knew that the two were pretty much mortal enemies... That was why they had all tried as best they could to keep the identies of their parents hidden, to avoid their captors trying to settle old scores with them. The teenage telepath got to his feet when they told him to, he glared at them briefly but left the cell without even the slightest hint of trouble. He gave his friends glances before walking alone. They didn't fight when they got taken out of their cells, they knew that they didn't stand a chance if they did.

He stopped as he walked past Ema's cell and glanced inside. He gave her a brief nod before turning to face the first of his captors he could see. As luck would have it, it was Esper. _Oh, well... Like mother like son I guess..._ He thought to himself. Without giving her a warning, he hit the telepath as hard as he could in the jaw before rushing forwards and releasing Elbe and Drake. The twins rushed outside and liberated Ema in turn. Tyr reacted quickly by hitting Zephyr hard enough to knock him down, he grabbed Drake and chucked the kid into the cells which had previously belonged to Ema. The Emerald Emperess had managed to chase Brainy's daughted into another cell. Esper rubbed her chin and prepared to give Elbe a mental blast she wouldn't soon forget. Fortunatly for her, Zephyr got his senses back together to be able to knock the telepath's legs from under her with a quick kick. He soon found himself being picked up by Hunter who attempted to grab him around the throat. The villain's reward was a fearsome bite.

Zephyr let out a silent gasp of pain as Tyr grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him back. The young telepath was quickly surrounded by his captors who had managed to get the situation back under control in a matter of seconds. All that his little resistance attempt had achieved was to have Elbe, Drake and Ema switch cells... Hardly a victory.

"Ouch! The little runt bit me!" Hunter complained contemplating his hand

"Wait a second and I'll fry his pathetic brain."

"No! Our boss doesn't want them hurt remember?" Tyr snapped "Anyway, this one's got some fight in him. See what the boss makes of that."

"Come on!" The Emperess ordered

Zephyr managed one last glance behind him and was just able to give his friends a knowing wink. Before Tyr dragged him further. The brute had grabbed a mixture of the back of his hair and the collar of his jacket and wasn't planning on releasing his prisoner any time soon. _Note to self, next time Connor offers to do the painful part of the rescue mission, let him!_ He thought to himself as he was dragged through the long, dark corridors. Every now and then, he would see a group of some kind of strange armoured guards patroling. They payed little if any attention to him, perhaps they had grown used to such a specticle since the arrival of their prisoners.

"You don't say much do you?" The Emperess asked him

"I've never heard him say anything." Hunter replied

"Well, you'd better start!" Esper declared "Here we are."

Zephyr's eyes widened as he was dragged into a large throne room. He couldn't help but look around in a mix of awe and terror. This place looked as if it had been deserted for the past few centuries. Everything was dark and dull, there were no lights other than some of the massive fires which burned outside. He dragged before a massive throne and thrown to the floor. He picked himself up and raised his eyes, he could make out a massive shadowy form starring down at him with burning red eyes. It took a moment for his eyes to be able to make out the face of his captor. In a strange way, this guy reminded him of Blok... Only much scarrier... _Oh sprock..._ Zephyr thought to himself.

"Well, well... This is the last of them is it?" His deep voice echoed around the room

"Sure is... He's a little fighter too..." Tyr declared

"Good. Spirit is always welcome." The figure's red eyes turned to him "What's your name child?"

_Questions? Well, this isn't going to go very far... _Zephyr thought to himself. Despite his fear, he simply glarred up at the figure before him wondered just who this was. The silence lasted a few moments before he noticed a strange presence pushing against the barriers of his mind. Being the son of Saturn Girl, one of the galaxy most powerful telepaths, he was more than used to the feeling of somebody else trying to enter his mind. This one was being descriete at the moment, a few seconds concentration should suffice to push him back... He noticed his captor now had a vague smile.

"He doesn't say much." Hunter replied

"So I see... Bravery or insolence, I wonder?" He frowned "What's that around his neck?"

"Dogtags..." The Emperess declared grabbing them so as to almost choke him, she smirked "You'll like this Esper, his name's Zephyr Krinn."

"Saturn Girl's brat..." Esper muttered distastefully "Figures..."

Zephyr's eyes widened, there went his secret identity. His parents had got him the dogtags when he was little and his powers weren't quite developped yet in case he somehow became seperated from his parents and needed to give someone his name. Miming Zephyr and Krinn was pretty much impossible. He'd actually forgotten that he was wearing them. He never imagined that they might get him into trouble. Esper was likely to make his life even more difficult now...

"Zephyr, the western wind..." The figure declared bemused "Still not willing to speak? Very well, you bring this upon yourself."

Zephyr's eyes widened as the same presence from ealier suddenly attacked his mind with a venegence. He chanelled all of his strength into resisting. Although perhaps not the most spectacular thing to witness, a telepathic battle was every bit as dangerous and difficult as a physical one. He occasionally trained a little with his mother, having what could best be described as a little mental push fight, one which she inevitably won. This was something else, he could feel The figure push against the barriers of his mind, unlike Irma, he wasn't afraid of causing pain... Zephyr was only just managing to hold him back when without warning, Esper joined in. His defences shattered, allowing them into his psyche. He let out a silent scream of pain.

Everything went black for a few seconds, as if existance had simply ceased to be. He abruptly found himself in the waiting room to a doctor's clinic. He looked around confused, this place seemed strangely familiar... He had definatly been here before! But when? Curious, he reached out and attempted to touch a wall, as he did so it fazed for a couple of seconds as if it ceased to be. _This place isn't real! _Zephyr realised looking around him, everything here was fake!

"_Come on Zephy... It's not an injection! I swear!" _

_Upon hearing his name, the teen turned around suddenly. His eyes widened as he spotted his mother and father. They looked younger, about ten year so. His mother was in civilian dress. He could't help but blush slightly as he spotted himself. He had to be about four years old, tops. __**I think this was that time I went to the doctors... **__Zephyr thought to himself. Was that it? Could this be one of his memories, thinking about it he certainly could recall this day. How could he ever forget it? _

"_Listen champ, you need to let go!" Rokk requested_

"_Aw, look at him Rokk, he's terrified. He wants his father." Irma replied with a vague smile _

"_I know Irma, it's just the kid's kinda choaking me here!" _

"_Hang on..."_

_He could remember clearly now. A couple of months ago, he had been given a couple of vaccinations. It had totally traumatised him. As a result, he was clinging to his father's neck whilst shaking like a leaf. Not one of his shining moments, still, he was young. His mother got up from her seat and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. She used her telepathy to give him a sense of comfort, instantly, the child latched onto her instead. Rokk took a deep breath and let out a relieved sigh as air rushed back through his lungs. He could clearly remember all this but had no desire for The figure and his allies to be able to see it too._

_Summoning his strength, Zephyr attempted to push them out of his mind and away from his memories. For a moment, he felt their presence leave and the scene around him begin to fade away. Then brutally and painfully he was slammed back into his memories. He gasped in pain, in his mind like this it wasn't only his head which hurt but his entire body. He fell to his knees unable to stop his foes._

"_You should know by now telepath you are outmatched." The figure's voice echoed through his mind "Do not make us hurt you."_

_Unable to do anything else, he turned back to his memories. He couldn't fight them, not without loosing the battle, something which had a chance of permanently damaging his mind. They were actually in with the doctor now, although he had put up a hell of a fight and created a lot of a fuss, his parents had been able to keep him calm enough to allow the doctor to examine him. As it was he was currently sitting on his father's lap, snuggling up to him for protection. _

"_Has he ever said anything at all?" The doctor asked _

"_Not a word." Irma replied "He's always been really, well... Quiet."_

"_We thought he might just be a slow learner." Rokk confessed "But being unable to speak at nearly five years old isn't really normal is it?"_

"_I'm afraid not, I'm sorry but I think that young Zephyr's vocal cords simply haven't developped. The chances are he will never be able to speak." The doctor explained _

_The memory suddenly faded from around him. There wasn't much else to see anyhow. Although he could always remember how his parents had reacted : they hadn't. They had always treated him as somebody who was completely normal. For the most part, they completely ignored his handicap. Of course, they had made a special effort to learn his sign language and had comforted him whenever his muteness got him down but that happened surprisingly rarely. Once his telepathy had begun to develop it had been even less of an issue. He loved his parents for that..._

"_You have a powerful mind and a strong will but that is not the cause of your silence is it? It's not courage or insolence." The figure's voice echoed around his mind again, he searched uselessly for it's point of origin "You do not speak because you lack the capacity."_

"_I wouldn't speak to you even if I could!" Zephyr snapped _

"_So you do have a voice, of sorts..." _

"_Yeah, I guess I do." He replied, The figure suddenly appeared before him _

"_A pity you were not brought here a few centuries ago. I could have made that voice real." _

"_I wouldn't have accepted." _

"_You seem certain. You do not wish to be normal?" The figure questioned surprised_

"_I am normal."_

"_I suspect you would not be very verbose even if you could speak." The vilain declared only earning a glare "Shall we continue?"_

_Zephyr fought as hard as he could for a little while but soon came to the conclusion that it was pointless. The figure seemed to be able to select the memories which were of great importance to him. He would witness them, like he was watching a film. He seemed to do so as if Zephyr's life was a documentary and he was trying to learn as much about him as he possibly could. The teenager was usually more of the live in the moment sort, as such, this trip down memory lane wasn't exactly pleasant. Just when he thought it was over, he felt The figure try to enter a part of his mind which even he didn't know existed. _

"Curious... You possess memories that you hide from even yourself..." He declared trying to force his way through

"No! I don't want to remember!" Zephyr yelled telepathically trying to keep him out

Once more he failed. _This time he was chucked into his living room. Judging by the wallpaper, it was before they had redecorated. That placed it at a time before he was eight years old. He had absolutely no recollection of this day what-so-ever. It seemed to be quite late on in the day but before dark... He spotted himself playing with a little toy spaceship, he had adored that thing as a child. He watched himself bemused for a few moments but also with a note of concern on his face. He didn't look all that happy, more like his playing was trying to block something else out. His father suddenly entered the room. Zephyr paused once he saw his father sit down on the sofa and simply starred at him as if he'd never seen him before. At this age, he hadn't quite developped his telepathy yet but it should start to appear in a few months. _

"_**Daddy. Looks. Sad**__."_

_Zephyr made out his own mimings. Rokk watched half interested then did something that his son had never seen him do before and certainly couldn't recall. He closed his eyes and turned away. It was the rough acquivalent of him plugging his ears when somebody was trying to talk to him. As it happened, the teenager had never before seen him look like this. He hadn't shaved in a few days and looked rather drunk in all honesty. He was used to his father being a little scruffy, the long and hard days working in the factory tended to do that to him. This, was something else. His father had never ignored him before! Apparently younger Zephyr didn't understand either as he approached his dad. Climbing onto the couch, he shook him slightly in an attempt to get him to open his eyes once more. _

_What happened next caused the teenage Zephyr to gasp with horror. Without so much as a warning, his father lashed out and grabbed him around his right wrist. Judging by the child's expression, he was in a non negligable amount of pain. Unfazed Rokk simply shoved him off of the couch without releasing his wrist. Zephyr crashed to the ground with a thump. It wasn't all that high but still, there was no affection in what his father had done. The little child clutched his wrist painfully, tears forming in his pink eyes as he looked to see the man who he looked up to so much... His father simply lied back down on the couch as if nothing had happened. A few moments later, Irma came rushing over. She was usually able to sense quite easily when her son was in pain, even without a telepathic link. _

"_Zephyr?! Rokk! What's the matter with you?! Can't you see he's crying?"_

_As she had missed the incident, she didn't know that Rokk was all too aware of his son's pain. Zephyr was currently hidden under the table shaking with a mixture of pain, fear and his tears. Irma bent down and offered him her hand. Instantly, he launched himself out and burried his head against her. He was crying rivers. It took his mother a few minutes to calm the child enough to see where had been hurt. She examined his wrist carefully, all the while, Rokk payed absolutely no attention to them. _

"_Your wrist... You couldn't have done this to yourself..." She realised before smiling softly to him but with her eyes full of concern "Zephyr, listen to me, I want you to go to your room and cover your ears okey? Put on some music really loudly if you want but don't come down until I tell you to. Promise?"_

_Zephyr nodded shakingly before bolting up the stairs and hiding in his bedroom. He closed the door and quickly turned on some music. He played his favourite song; it was the same as his parents. He could recall them dancing to it when he was young. Still scarred, he grabbed his pillow and bedclothes and hid himself underneath his bed. One day, he would understand why he felt so much safer here... Despite the music, some of what followed still found it's way up the stairs to his young ears. _

"_Damn it Rokk! I can understand that you're not yourself after Braal but you have no right to take out your own pain on Zephyr! Do you hear me?!" Irma was yelling "Listen to me you sprocking coward! Have you any idea wh-" _

_She was cut short abruptly. Zephyr waited a few minutes to hear another bout of yelling. All that remained however was a terrifing silence now reigned over his house. Only his music could be heard. Summoning his courage, the child left his room on his tiptoes. He silently made his way to the doorway of the living room. He peered his head around the doorframe and looked inside. His mother looked to be in a state of shock, she was rubbing a rather red cheek. Rokk had raised himself to his feet and looked down at her, his eyes wild with anger but with a strange, twisted smirk on his face. After a few seconds, Irma managed to get over her shock. She shot a glare at Rokk which would probably have caused most people to run for the hills. _

"_You bastard!"_

_Upon hearing the insult, Rokk simply frowned in anger. Without warning, Rokk lashed out and punched his wife in the stomach. It was probably the sound which Zephyr found the worse or rather the absence of it. Irma let out a brief gasp of pain before falling down to the floor. She lay there without moving, trying her best to catch her breath. Acting purely on impulse, the child ran out from his hiding place and put himself between his father and mother. Rokk blinked a couple of times before turning his back and walking off without saying another word. Zephyr fell to his knees and nuzzled up to his mother as best as he could, trying to offer her some comfort and receive some himself. He couldn't have said how long they stayed like that before Irma mustered the strength to raise her head. _

"_Come on baby. We're going."_

"_**Where?**__" He signed_

"_Somewhere your father won't dare come, if he knows what's good for him."_

_They left within three minutes of that incident. They didn't get any of their things, all Irma brought was a long raincoat to shield them from the bucketing rain. The heaven's had certainly opened that night. The teenaged version of himself followed disbelieving as he witnessed this entire part of his life which he couldn't recall. He couldn't remember ever walking this far especially not through the mud, the rain and the storm... He stayed firmly hidden inside of the rainjacket throughout the whole of the walk. By his mother's side, she was in pain and struggling, he could tell but she didn't complain, not even once. They arrived at a house, a good three hour's walk away from theirs. The lights were still on, Saturn Girl rung the a few moments, the door opened. Lightning Lad's eyes widened abruptly. _

"_Irma?" Garth asked surprised "And chief too!" _

"_Garth..." Saturn Girl muttered weakly _

"_Come in..." The legionnaire stepped aside "You're soaking and filthy!"_

"_Sorry..." Irma managed _

"_No, it's just..." He frowned "I didn't expect a visit..." _

_Garth quickly got them inside. Zephyr was fortunate, Garth's neighbours had a son about his age and size whom he could borrow clothes from. Irma was forced to wear some of Pheonix's old clothes which she had left behind. They sat shivering in front of the fire as Lightning Lad contemplated the mother and son, concern etched all over his face. He didn't complain about the late hour or even ask them why they were there, not until he saw a rather large bruise on Zephyr's wrist at least. _

"_Chief, let me see that would you?" He requested, the young telepath held out his hand "That's a nasty sprain. Hang on, I'll get you some ice and some chocolate. Would you like that?"_

_Shaking still, Zephyr managed a nod. Garth brought him some ice which he applied to the boy's swollen wrist. He winced and snuggled up to his mother whilst eating his bar of chocolate. She must have spent well over and hour like that stroking his hair and humming lullabies to him. His 'uncle' simply watched patiently and understandingly. Whilst thinking about his two three year olds, he was amazed the twins hadn't woken up with all this... A couple of hours later, Garth carried him upstairs accompanied by his mother. They put him in a bed as by that time he was already half asleep but that didn't prevent him from listening to the rest of their discussion when they thought he was asleep. He did so cautiously from the ballustrade peering down into the living room where his mother was talking to Garth. _

"_Irma what on earth happened?!" Garth asked quietly "Where's Rokk?"_

"_At home... Garth, he just-" _

_He'd never seen his mother cry... Never. What happened that night however was that she simply broke down. Tears cascaded down her cheeks. Lightning Lad looked at her shocked for a moment before quickly taking her in his arms and allowing her to cry against his chest. He realised, that was the moment when his memories simply stopped. He could recall staying at Garth's for a few months but only vaguely. He'd always believed it was because his mother had offered to help him look after Elbe and Drake. _

"So, do you still consider your father to be a role model?" The figure asked him

"That's a lie! You're inventing these memories! My father would never..."

"Foolish boy, Darkseid never lies...


	12. Chapter 12

Garth stood by the entrance to the infirmary with Irma. He still remember that night that she had turned up on his doorstep with Zephyr. He remembered the severe bruise delievered to her by the man that she loved. He winced thinking about the fight that had occurred when he had returned to her house in an attempt to A) get some of their stuff and B) see what on earth had happened to Rokk. The result had been one of the worst fist fights he had ever been in. One that had left him with a black eye, a cut lip and several painful bruises. Rokk had been far less fortunate but it had allowed them to see that it wasn't their usual friend behind the purple eyes but rather something else altogther...

"Irma... Are you sure you want to do this?"

"We need to help him Garth." She replied

"He could turn on you."

"I don't think he will... Besides you're there."

"Yeah but he could still have enough time to-" Garth stopped himself "At the first sign of trouble, I'm coming in."

"Thank you..."

She offered him a warm smile before entering the infirmary. She closed the door behind her, whilst Lightning Lad watched concerned through the one way glass. As she had expected, Rokk took absolutely no notice of her presence, he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts. She could already tell what he was going through, his own personal hell inside of his mind. In all truth, she wasn't too sure how aware he was during his moments of utter rage. She suspected and prayed that he simply went blank, the alternative was near unimaginable. She spent a few moments looking at him silently before very slowly and gently made her way into his mind.

"_Rokk..._" She called out softly

Her voice echoed through the depths of the Braalian's mind until it reached his ears and pulled him out of the darkness. It was as if he had suddenly just awoken from a terrifying nightmare. His eyes widened abruptly, he started gasping for breath and broke into a cold sweat. It took him a few moments before he was able to calm himself back down to a reasonable level. He caught his breath before looking to his wife. His eyes were full of complete and utter terror.

"You shouldn't be in here!" He declared "I'm dangerous! I could-"

"Hush... Rokk. You and I both know that you're locking yourself away like this is only allowing Brainiac's influence to spread over you."

"It's too late Irma... I can't stop myself." He muttered before clutching his head "It's all the time! Every second! I feel a little piece extra of me disappear! There's almost nothing left to save."

"That's not true-"

"Look at me and tell me that I'm the man you married!" He suddenly screamed "Look me in the eye and tell me Irma!"

She paused, Garth was near to coming in. He wouldn't risk her getting hurt again. Seeing their mutual friend like this was painful enough as it was. It was impossible to descripe what Irma Ardeen or Garth Ranzz felt as they saw the once young, proud and arrogant Rokk, whom they both loved dearly, slowly loose his mind. Saturn Girl considered her possible answers, she couldn't lie to him. He had changed beyond all recognition in the space of a few years only. If you met old and new Rokk in the street, you wouldn't have said that asides the physical ressemblance they were completely different people.

"No... No, Rokk. You have changed." She told him "But then so have we all."

"You would never have hit me Irma! You would never have hurt our son." He all but whispered the last part

"That wasn't you! That was Brainiac!"

"It is me Irma..." He muttered "Every time I loose control, it's me. I'm stuck there watching as I hurt people!"

"Then fight it!" She begged him

"I can't- Back before Braal I could but when I saw Pol die... When I was lying in that hospital bed listening to the sounds of my people being ripped apart by their own powers... When I heard the death tole and the words _'endangered species' _I don't know, something just snapped inside of me."

Irma let out a sigh, recalling those dark days. Images rushed back to her as she recalled Brainiac 5 turning up unannounced on her doorstep, he told her that something had happened on Braal. The Imsk had launched some kind of chemical attack, something had gone wrong... She couldn't ever recall seeing Rokk cry before that day. The day she had visited him in one of the emergancy hospitals that had been constructed orbiting Braal after the chemicals had spread through the atmosphere. Members from every planet in the United planets had turned up to offer their help and medical support, it had proved too late for most. All those contaminated died, with one exception and he was hardly an ordinary Braalian.

"I know the pain you were in Rokk. Believe me, I felt it when that bomb was dropped."

"I only survived because of Brainiac's enhancements..." He muttered "Now, they are destroying me."

"They're only doing that because you're letting them!" Irma told him

"Maybe that's better..." He muttered

"No... Rokk, we all need you." She assured him "Me, Zephyr... The baby."

He paused suddenly. There was a silence. One that nothing could have penetrated. For a few moments, Rokk didn't even respond. Then, it was as if it suddenly hit him. The words which she had just spoken finally made it to a part of him which hadn't changed. Slowly, he turned to look at her wide eyed. She offered him a soft and gentle smile.

"The baby?" He repeated

"I was going to tell you once we saved Zephyr but I suppose now is as good a time as ever." She declared

"So, you must be about two months along by now..." He muttered

"Good to know you can still add." She replied with a smile

"Irma..." He muttered

The Braalian rested his head against hers. He was tired, she could easily tell that much but it was very much Rokk. He nodded slowly to Garth behind the glass, telling him that all was well. The redhaired Legionnaire let out a greatful sigh before turning away. Irma was safe, Rokk was hopefully getting better; maybe, if they saved Zephyr they could both be happy once more... They had to get the children back, they just had to.


	13. Chapter 13

The legionnaires assembled on the bridge floated around uselessly. Brainiac 5 looked around. The lights had gone out and he could already sense that there was no more oxygen being circulated around the vessel. A few seconds, later thankfully the lights came back on and they crashed to the floor. There were some groans, more of frustration than anything else. All this time floating around uselessly was beginning to grate on the Legionnaire's nerves. They already had one of their own going nuts in the infirmary, how long would it be before the rest of them joined him? The fact that they knew that their children were on the planet just below didn't help either but without backup attacking was suicidal...

"Brainy, what was that?" Timber Wolf asked

"That would be the life support beginning to give out again." He explained

"I thought we repaired that!" Tim replied

"We patched it up but the system is too badly damaged." The leader of the Legion revealed "It can't hold out much longer..."

"What happens when it gives?" Brin questionned

"We'll start floating again!" Bouncing Boy replied exasperated

"The lack of gravity will be the least of our problems Bouncing Boy." Brainy replied "No life support, no oxygen..."

The Legionnaires let out sighs and exchanged glances. They were already running low on supplies. The simple fact of the matter was that the ship hadn't been stocked up after it's stay at the dockyard for repairs. Of course, Tim and Rokk weren't to blame for that but it did mean that they were running out of food and had been forced to start rashioning a few days ago. Although the lack of oxygen would quickly make the food crisis seem rather unimportant. They were running out of time, running out of options.

"What can we do?" Vi finally broke the silence

"Divert some extra power to the life support, scrap the engines all thogether... Or-" He paused looking to them

"Or finally get off our butts and start doing something!" Bouncing Boy finished "What are we waiting for?!"

"I thought you said that was Apokolips?!" Tim asked "There are hardly a lot of you! You'll be slaughtered!"

"Welcome to the Legion!" Timber Wolf replied unfazed

"Suicide missions are our speciality."

"No opposition?" Brainiac 5 asked

"What all seven of us?!" Tim asked still not believing his ears

"No. Eight..."

Timber Wolf, Shrinking Violet, Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, Triplicate Girl and Tim all turned to see Rokk, Irma and Garth standing in the doorway. They stood side by side, as they would have so many years ago before the Legion that they had founded. They entered the room. A new determination burned brightly within their eyes. The time to save their children had come and now, they were going to fight tooth and nail to do so. Nothing would be able to stop them until their families were once more back together. Rokk however turned to look at Shrinking Violet :

"I'm sorry for what I did to your eye all those years ago..." He said referring to her scar

"You were in pain..." She replied "I should have known better than to rush up to you like I did."

"So you're going to help?" Triplicate Girl asked surprised

"Yes." Rokk lifted a piece of scrap metal which he used his powers to turn into a little ball "My powers never really left, I just... Stopped using them."

"Well then, unless you want to be known as Overall Man, I suggest a change of clothes!" Bouncing Boy declared

"I didn't exactly back a bag before I came here you know..."

The other Legionnaires smiled knowingly. Puzzling Rokk somewhat. Brainy hit a key and a pannel in the wall abruptly opened. He starred wide eyed as he spotted his old uniform, intact, inside of a glass exibition cabinet. By it's side was an old and scratched Legion ring, one which he hadn't had on his finger in quite some time. He starred up at it blankly for a few moments before cautiously reaching inside and picking up his legion ring. He contemplated it in the palm of his hand for a few moments before turning to look at the others.

"We always hoped." Brainiac simply replied

"Let me get this straight... You left the Legion years ago, haven't gone back since but have suddenly decided to become some superhero just when we're all going to get killed?"

"I am Cosmic Boy..." He declared "Just one question, since when was my costume blue?"

"Color Kid... The guy just can't help it."

/

The door leading to the prison room opened abruptly. It had taken long enough... The teenagers inside gasped abruptly as they saw Darkseid himself enter. He was dragging Zephyr by the collar of his jacket. The teenager seemed to have lost almost all his fighting spirit and looked near catonic. The leader of Apokolips through the young telepath back into his cell rather roughly. It took him a few moments longer than usual to react and make it to his feet. This was the first time that they had ever seen Darkseid himself inside of their prison. So far, he had contented himself with remaining on his throne and having them brought to him so that he could look inside of their minds and see their memories.

"I suppose you would all like to know why I brought you here..." He declared but earned to response "Of late I have found myself some what- Understaffed. Rather than mearly recruit some mercenaries or conquer some pathetic distant planet, I decided that a stronger fighting force might be required... I therefor chose you, the children of the Legion."

"Messed that one up, these guys haven't got any powers!" Damian replied with a smirk

"But they will, in time. Those past puberty already do."

"Why take children?" Connor asked "We haven't done anything to you!"

"Children are easier to influence." He replied blankly "Especially those gifted with abilities..."

The door suddenly shot open. Ron-Kar came charging in, he was out of breath and looked somewhat panicked. Darkseid gave him a look of pure contempt. Aria wondered how the Fatal Four and the Legion of Supervillains could possibly have ever come to work for someone like Darkseid. They didn't exactly seem compatible. Where as the former were interested purely in self-benefit and largely in the short term; Darkseid appeared to be something else entirely... He was cunning, powerful and simply more creepy...

"Guess what! The brats parents have found us!" He declared "They're coming now!"

"Then it is only suiting that we great them..." He muttered leaving without saying another word

As soon as he had left, the teens exchanged overjoyed glances. The idea of their parents and the Legion coming was enough to lift their spirits! All but Zephyr looked happy. That last fact didn't escape from Ema who looked at the young telepath. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, she wondered if he was simply exhausted from this whole ordeal or if it was something else entirely... She had trouble relating to the teenager and she wasn't convinced that it was all due to her tounger age...

"Hey guys." She spoke suddenly "What do you say I break us out of here?"


	14. Chapter 14

"It's really quiet..." Bouncing boy declared as they tiptoed through the corridors

"A bit less quiet now Bouncy." Shrinking Violet replied

"Relax, we're unbeatable with these new rings!" Bouncy said

"I only upgraded the rings slightly!" Brainy informed them "They should now be able to generate a shield which will protect you from energy attacks. Anything physical will make it through, so be careful and be quiet!"

"Can't we use telepathy?" Timber Wolf asked Saturn Girl

"No..." She shook her head "We don't know who or what's here. If there are any other telepaths, they could break into an open broadcast and then we'll all end up as vegetables."

"We might not have a choice..." Rokk muttered "This isn't a little base we're talking about, it's a planet. It could take weeks to find the kids here!"

"Well, Saturn Girl managed to sense their minds this far didn't she?" Lightning Lad asked

"What part of not a sound, did you guys fail to understand?!" Brainy asked them

This had the the third time that he'd had to remind them to stop talking. For him of course it went without saying but he still, even after all these years had to remind himself that they had a lower level intelligence and that talking was in their nature. Chuck especially became talkative when he was worried. Although none of his children had actually been taken, one of the things in the Legion was that they were essentially one big extended family. That meant that they all felt equaly as concerned by the recent kidnappings. They had been expecting to encounter vast military resistance, as it stood however they were rather unimpressed. Not even a single shot had been fired at them when they had decended to the planet's surface and they hadn't seen so much as a hint of trouble. It was as if the entire planet had died... That only caused them to be more alert than usual.

"I don't like this..." Timber Wolf asked "What happened to the furries? The deep six? You know, the things our parents used to tell us to give us nightmares."

"All those stories are centuries old..." Brainiac 5 declared looking around him "There's no way of verifying just how accurate they were. Apokolips has been silent for longer than anyone can remember, what ever was here, it died... A long time ago."

"Maybe but something took our children!" Garth declared

"Everyone stop!" Violet ordered suddenly

The Legionnaires stopped as soon as she shouted. For a moment, they didn't realise what she was talking about. Then, they felt it. The floor was vibrating, very faintly. It felt like the earth beneath them had suddenly woken up. They looked to their feet wondering what was happening for the first few seconds. Then, without warning the floor litterally came to life. Parts of it began to raise up forming walls around them. The Legionnaires looked around panicked as they realised that they were slowly being boxed in.

"Move! Now!" Brainy ordered

They began to rush, running as fast as their legs would allow them to travel. When that failed they used their rings to take to the air and gained some much needed speed. They had become trapped in a narrow corridor and one which was getting progressively worse by the second. Every few seconds, a new fragment of wall would burst out of nowhere and they would find their path blocked and be forced to take a new turn. The leader of the Legion checked to make sure that everyone was keeping up, especially Rokk who was out of practise to say the least. Thankfully, he seemed to be stay with them. Another way was blocked forcing them to go right. _They're trying to lead us somewhere!_ Brainiac realised suddenly.

"Guys, we need to change direction! Go somewhere the walls aren't leading us!"

"What and get squished?!" Bouncing Boy asked

"Maybe not..." Rokk muttered

Just as yet another door came down it was surrounded by purple aura. Cosmic Boy stopped dead straining as he tried desperatly to keep the metal from blocking their path. His allies paused for a moment, wondering if he was going to be able to keep up the effort for much longer. He nodded through gritted teeth indicating to them that he wouldn't let go and that it was safe for them to go through. Quickly, one by one, the legionnaires darted past the door which slammed shut almost as soon as Brainiac 5 got passed. Rokk nearly collapsed from exhaustion, having not used his powers in so long it meant that he was unable to use them as he used to. Pulling himself together, he floated over to where the wall and placed his hand against the cold metal.

"_Rokk?_" It was Irma's telepathic voice

"_Yes... Yes... I'm here._" He replied

"_Are you okey?_" She asked

"_I'm fine but I can't open it up again..._"

"_Hold on, Lightning Lad's going to try and-_"

"_No!_" He said firmly "_Find the kids, I'll find my own way around._"

"_Rokk... You know I love you_."

"_You shouldn't have to use your powers to know the answer to that..._" Rokk replied warmly

Irma gently left Rokk's mind returning to her side of the wall. She gave the others a brief smile informing them that her husband was fine before taking a more serious expression and following them down this new corridors. Mercifully, things had stopped moving about and the planet and rediscovered it's eery calm. The Legionnaires were more cautious this time however, Tim was back on the ship hopefully safe and Rokk was now flying around trying to find a way to get back to them... This wasn't exactly the situation that Brainiac 5 had planned for... Still, they were still alive, that was always good news. The group of heroes stuck together as best as they could before emerging into a huge room.

"Whoa..." Bouncing boy muttered "Looks like some kind of throneroom..."

"Aria was here!" Timber wolf declared smelling the groud "And Ema! Drake, Elbe, Xio... They were all here! The last one was Zephyr!"

"Can you tell which way they went?" Triplicate Girl asked

"Yes, they went-"

Timber Wolf stopped dead and let out a monsterous snarl. The Legionnaires spun around instantly to see Emerald Emperess and Esper standing in a doorway. Suddenly, several other doors opened revealing the Legion of supervillains and Fatal Four. They had been waiting for them it would seem. The Legion adopted a protective circle, trying to cover every direction that they could be attacked from. There was a few moments of silence where both teams of arch enemies simply glarred at each other, daring the other to try anything.

"Where's Aria?! What have you done with her?!" Timber Wolf snarled ferociously

"Last night's stew..." Mano replied

It was those few words which sparked off the entire fight. One which echoed through the depths of the entire planet...


	15. Chapter 15

**Does a big chapter make up for months of hiatus? Probably not...**

**/**

"Way to go Ema!" Xio spoke aloud "Those locks were no match for your super brain!"

"Drake and Elbe's wasn't." She replied "It's a good thing each cell was tailor fitted for the people occupying it, if not we wouldn't be walking around like this."

"Zephyr are you okay? You haven't said a word in ages- Well, you know what I mean..."

The young telepathy was honestly surprised that it was Dacian asking him. He was also taken aback by the fact that he sounded sincere. It was true, he hadn't said much. He hadn't said anything. His mind was preoccupied by the memories that he had been shown by Darkseid. The more he thought about them, the more clearly he could recall them. He could still she the pained expression frozen on his mother's face as his father had lashed out... It haunted him. He loved his father, he had always been a role model for him, even without any powers he had seemed super... Remembering those things made him question his life...

"_Darkseid showed me a memory... One I wish I could forget."_ He told them telepathically.

"What was it?" Ema asked

"_My father... He- Hurt my wrist."_

"What? He knocked you over?" Drake questioned surprised

"_No. He did it deliberately then he hit my mom._"

"Your dad?!" Elbe repeated "Zephy he's the guy who dressed up as Santa Claus and came down the chimney when we were three?"

"_It was after that..._" Zephyr told them "_He just didn't seem himself._"

"It's all garbage if you ask me!" Damian declared "Darkseid made you see those things just so you'd be off of your game."

"_I guess he could have..._"

"Of course he did! Now stop throwing a pity party and lets get going!"

The group of kids let out a few hidden sighs. Damian defiantly had a way with words... Then again, it might very well have been the kick that Zephyr needed to start thinking clearly. Of course it was just one of Darkseid's ruses to try and get him doubting himself... His father loved him and he loved his mother, he would never hurt them! The teen repeated it several times in his head, finally banishing that terrifying part of his mind where it had first been pulled from. They had absolutely no idea where they were going, hopefully to find their parents... Maybe, they would be able to leave this planet by themselves... So long as they were far away from Darkseid and their cells, it would be better.

"Guys do you hear that?" Aria asked her wolf senses kicking in

"Yeah, sounds like machinery." Connor agreed

"Guys the floor's moving!"

The group looked down astonished as the ground beneath their feet began to shift. Without warning, a wall shot out of the ground cutting off their exit. The teens locked panicked. Acting quickly Zephyr pushed Ema so that she would be standing with the others. Just as he took a step forwards to join them himself, another wall shot out in front of him blocking off his way. The teen staggard backwards looking for another way for him to possibly rejoin his friends. He was forced to run backwards however as more of the ground simply rose up in the forms of sharp pieces of metal. _This is really not what I saw myself doing a week ago! _He thought to himself.

/

"I'm pretty sure your brat could have done better than this Saturn girl!"

"I swear Esper if you've hurt him!"

Saturn Girl and Esper's telepathic battle was just one of the many separate fights being raged at the moment in the Apokolips throne room. Brainiac took on Mano dodging his burning fists as best as he could. Timber Wolf seemed to have Hunter on the run, his razor sharp claws were enough to keep most of his foes at a good distance. Emerald Empress's eye fired it's powerful beam towards the triplicates, the white one only just managed to dodge whilst her two other doppelgangers charged forwards and kicked the Empress in the face.

Lightning Lad ducked as a large piece of metal came towards him, it Tyr in the back of the head but didn't stop. It missed the redheaded Legionnaire by only a fraction of an inch. His friend who had been manipulating the metal was less lucky as he sent it flying into his own face. Rokk went down with a thump. Having successfully stunned himself. He'd finally found a way back to them and had joined the fray as best as he could. Which was rather pathetically it had to be said.

"Seriously Rokk?" Lightning Lad quickly helped his friend to his feet.  
>"I'm out of practice..." He muttered, blood coming out of his mouth. "I think I broke a tooth..."<br>"Yeah but you heal right?"  
>"Unfortunately... It hurts more than the injury sometimes."<p>

Cosmic Boy winced in pain before giving his friend a nod and telling him that he was alright to keep on fighting. Brainy wasn't so keen on hand to hand fighting, true he knew some martial arts but he was more of a strategist than anything else and Mano coming after him like this was preventing him from using any of his gadgets to his advantage.

He could use with some help but unfortunately, the other Legionnaires were all rather busy at the moment. He winced as he saw Bouncing Boy smashing himself repeatedly against Validus but achieving little. Shrinking Violet was attempting to help him. He couldn't imagine two Legionnaires less suited for the job. Ideally, they needed to change with Lightning Lad who was trying his best to deal with Ron-Kar. He would have asked Saturn Girl to transfer the message but it was too important that she kept Esper at bay.

"Bouncing Boy, Violet and Lightning Lad switch!" He ordered before letting out a brief yell of pain as Mano managed to brush his arm.

Lightning Lad broke off from his fright as he was asked to taking the opportunity to fire a powerful lightning blast into his huge foe. Bouncing Boy intercepted Ron-Kar who was about to ram into Timber Wolf in the form of a massive bull-like creature. That only left him about to be grabbed by Mano. Suddenly, a miniature figure appeared on the man with burning hand's shoulder. Brainy's eyes widened as he recognized his wife. She however was smirking rather arrogantly. Mano, attempted to swat her. It was beyond a doubt one of the dafter things he'd ever done as his own power turned against him scorching his shoulder. It was all it took for Brainiac 5 to deal him a crippling blow to the chin.

Two down... The Legionnaires now had the advantage of numbers.

"I've got to admit, that's quite the husband you picked." Esper said mockingly to her old foe.  
>"What do you mean?" Saturn Girl asked trying desperately not to be distracted.<br>"Oh... I saw in that secret part of Zephy's memory. Rokky ain't so nice when he gets angry..."  
>"You!" Saturn Girl felt an uncharacteristic anger take over one that only Esper was able to bring out. "You will never hurt my son again!"<p>

She wasn't aware that she was capable of creating such a powerful thought blast until that moment. Judging by the look on her face, neither was Esper. The other telepath fell uselessly to the floor vegetated. For a moment, Saturn Girl felt a twinge of smugness. Then the consequence of what she had just done hit her. She felt as if someone had just sucked out all of her life energy. Exhausted, she fell out of the sky suddenly, unable to concentrate enough to use the Legion ring to keep herself afloat any longer. She landed in a pair of strong arms, that she recognized all too well.

"Healing trance time?" Rokk asked her.  
>"No. I'm going to try and fight it. My sleeping here's the last thing we need."<p>

Rokk didn't reply. It struck him, that they were winning...

/

15 minutes earlier...

_Well this is just great! I'm in the most dangerous place in the universe, I just got exasperated from my team and I'm completely lost to boot! _To say that Zephyr had had better days would be an understatement. He ran through the seemingly never ending corridors but failed to find an exit. Sadly, Ema had their makeshift map. That meant that there was very little chance of his escaping. He'd already almost given up on that front, hopefully he could draw some of Darkseid's forces attention and allow his friends to escape.

Then again, that seemed unlikely. Since their escape, he hadn't encountered a single guard. There was always the chance that they were all busy chasing the other escapees. Still, if that were the case, he would have expected a little more chaos or at least some goons running around. All the same, he didn't fancy his chances of survival at the moment. _If I can get outside, maybe I'll see a way off of this piece of space rock! If I could just get a call out to the Legion maybe then... _He planned in his head.

He stopped dead upon seeing a shadow coming towards him. _I just had to think it didn't I..._ He leaned in closer to the wall in an attempt to shield himself from view. He considered his next course of action carefully, surprisingly there was only one shadow. That meant one bad guy. Could he take out one foe by himself? He'd have to act quickly if he wanted to live. Use the element of surprise just like his mother had taught him. _Well, at least I won't have to worry about making too much noise... _

He watched silently waiting to see just who he would need to fight. His eyes widened as he recognized a golden legionnaire ring. The man in blue clad past. _Dad? No it couldn't have been... He's back on earth... _The legionnaire turned his head slightly to one side, there was a glint of purple in the man's eyes one which Zephyr knew all too well. It was his father! What in the universe was he doing here?! What was he doing in Legion attire?

Zephyr tried to call him using his telepathy but thought better of it. If any of Darkseid's telepaths were in the area they would easily pick it up and that could lead to even greater problems. Suddenly, there was an explosion coming from further away. Alerted; Rokk used a legion ring to take to the air and fly at high speed towards the sound of fighting. Zephyr raised his eyebrows seeing his father rapidly disappearing into the distance. _Great! I'm gonna get left in the dust again! _Zephyr thought to himself. He broke into the fastest run he was capable of but it was of no avail. He simply couldn't keep up.

It took him five minutes to cover the distance that his father had done in thirty seconds. Even once he had made it, he found himself standing meters far above where he was needed. There was a pitch battle going on below, legionnaires verses the same guys who had first taken him and his friends. He spent a moment contemplating the battle ground then the drop separating him from them. There was no way he was getting down there without falling a great deal. _Great, I can be the galaxy's first silent cheerleader! _He thought somewhat sarcastically.

As he ran his eyes over the battle, they fell upon a familiar blonde. Instinctively, his face lit up upon recognizing his mother. She was fighting side by side with Garth and his father. He'd never seen Rokk in a fight before. He seemed to be injured already as some blood was coming out of his mouth.

Zephyr hesitated for a moment there was a large part of him which wanted to join in an help. He might have been able to with his telepathy. However he realized that it wouldn't be such a good idea. He had no combat experience other than a couple of fights in the playground and the last thing that the Legionnaires needed was to have a kid running around that they had to look out for. So he decided to watch, if things truly turned dire then he could/would intervene and try and help but that no longer looked likely.

After a few more minutes, the Legionnaires stood almost victorious. Only three of their foes remained still standing; Hunter, Validus and Persuader. Then, Zephyr felt his blood run cold.

Just beneath him, Darkseid emerged. He seemed to contemplate the small number of Legionnaires still standing as if he was admiring their courage for a few seconds. Then, without even a word, he let loose a few omega beams. Zephyr gasped recalling the damage that the legends told they inflicted on those hit by them. If any of the Legionnaires were hit... He'd rather not think about it. He was helpless as he watched the first bolt strike Timber Wolf. The legion ring briefly emitted a shield around the hero and for a few moments it looked as if it might hold. Then, after a couple of seconds of faltering, it gave way and the beams struck the hero. The hero let out a brief cry as he went flying backwards and crashed against the floor.

Zephyr narrowed his eyes, he had some trouble making it out correctly but Brin didn't look dead. No, he could see him very faintly moving on the floor. What he was, was out of action. Brainiac 5 and Triplicate Girl suffered a similar fate. The final beam was headed straight for his mother, his father and Garth. He held his breath wondering what he could possibly do to help them. It was then that he spotted a small rusty ladder which he could use to climb down. Without thinking, he began his descent.

"Guys! Shield pronto!" He heard Rokk cry.

The three legionnaires remained back to back and stood their ground. Garth created a force field of lightning adding it to a second purple one. Zephyr paused and starred, he couldn't quite understand where the purple shield was coming from. Could his father?.. His thoughts were disrupted as the omega beam made contact. The legionnaires seemed to be straining to maintain the shield. The sock of the blast lasted a few seconds no longer. The red energy arching off of the shield but thankfully not making contact with the group of heroes.

The attack dissipated. The legionnaires were still standing, although they seemed somewhat winded. They turned to face Darkseid, anger and hatred etched on their faces. The villain paused and smirked but didn't attack again. Probably good as Zephyr wasn't too sure that their shield would hold out against a second omega beam.

"The legion of superheroes..." Darkseid muttered "I'm flattered."

"Where are our children?" Saturn Girl demanded her eyes glowing

"You need not concern yourselves with them. They are quite safe." He assured them "You can meet them soon enough."

He took a step forwards. Garth narrowed his eyes and charged his hand cannon. He unleashed a massive discharge of lightning against his foe. Darkseid staggered backwards for a few moments before bracing himself and shielding himself with his arm. Zephyr had to look away as the lightning became even more intense and bright. Seeing that her friend was having some difficulty, Saturn Girl joined the assault using all of her mental powers. The villain let out a cry as the room filled with dust.

_Yes!_ _Nobody messes with my mom, or my uncle, or my dad. Whatever he's doing here..._Thought Zephyr. The young boy paused, his natural instinct told him to rush back over to his parents whom he hadn't seen in ages. They hadn't noticed him yet, they were too wrapped up in the battle to see him discretely standing back from everything. Something however told him to remain firmly where he was. He narrowed his eyes, there was something wrong... Then without warning, two massive omega beams came out of the cloud of dust.

"Imra!" Yelled Rokk

It happened too quickly for Saturn Girl or Lightning Lad to react. They were both struck. The legion ring's shields activated but just like before gave way. Both heroes crashed to the ground wounded. For a moment, Garth looked as if he might be able to get back up, he struggled for a moment before falling back down face down._ Mom's in a healing trance... Guess that leaves dad._ Zephyr realized. He looked to the other Legionnaires on the ground, some of them were already regaining consciousness but they wouldn't be able to help him in time. Zephyr took a step forwards ready to intervene.

"Out of retirement are we Rokk?" Hunter asked him mockingly "You should have stayed with mechanics."

"Don't I know it..." Rokk muttered

Darkseid remained perfectly immobile whilst he watched as the Fatal Five and Legion of Supervillains attacked the last legionnaire still standing. Zephyr's eyes widened as he saw his father generate the same purple shield from before. He took a few steps back holding of their attacks before taking to the air and hitting Hunter as hard as he could on the chin. The villain staggered backwards slightly.

A beam of energy skimmed right past Zephyr's father, missing him only by a hair's with. Rokk narrowed his eyes as Validus fired yet more lightning at him. This one was dead on target. The young spectator could barely watch for fear that the attack would be the last that his father would ever see. Yet he was in for a surprise, Rokk Krin simply closed his eyes as if he were readying himself to receive the blow.

Then, the ground started to shake. Pieces of metal which formed the walls and floor of the room tore away and begun swirling through the air, as if they were trapped in a hurricane. It blocked the attack. Zephyr now had no doubt that his father was the cause of these strange purple fields. How had he not known about these powers? The whirlwind of metal sped up abruptly before firing out in the direction of the villains. Although none were sharp enough to cause any fatal damage, the speed and impact was enough to send them flying backwards.

Unfortunately, it seemed to take the wind out of Rokk who fell forwards. Only just catching himself, he stayed on his knees gasping desperately for breath. Then out of nowhere he was knocked flying. Literally flying through the air, if he had been hit by a train he would likely have traveled as far. All due to a single punch from Darkseid. He collided at high speed with a wall several feet away and didn't get back up. Nothing moved, Zephyr starred at the body of the man he called father. He lay face down, motionless. It seemed impossible that he could have survived an impact like that.

A second later, there was a desperate gasp. One which informed Zephyr that his father wasn't quite dead yet. Slowly and painfully, he turned his head to look at his attacker. He made an effort to stand but it was clear that his left arm at least was broken and no longer responding to his commands. Darkseid strolled over to him quite calmly. Rokk looked up quite helpless and fairly certain that his time was up.

"Well now, a Braalian... A rare find in the universe now a days."  
>"Who are you?" Rokk managed to get out.<br>"I am Darkseid." He replied, Zephyr couldn't have sworn it but fear seemed to flash through his father's wide eyes.  
>"Where's my son?!" He demanded summoning his courage.<br>"Zephyr? Now why would I tell you?!" Darkseid questioned him.

Without warning, he reached down and grabbed the Legionnaire around the throat. He lifted the man up as if he weighted nothing. Rokk's right arm, instinctively found it's way up to try and pry away his attacker's iron grip. It did nothing. Darkseid apparently didn't seek to kill him however as he wasn't choking him. Not completely at least. Rokk glared at the villain with all the rage of someone who was completely helpless.

"I know all about you Rokk Krin." Darkseid declared. "I know what you are and that you are not who you pretend to be. I know that right now, your bones are repairing themselves. I also know that sooner or later, that rage inside of you will destroy you."  
>"You're wrong..." The Legionnaire growled slightly.<br>"I honestly would have thought that you would thank me." He declared picking up a rather sharp piece of scrap metal. "Not only am I about to put you out of your misery but I will be protecting your wife and son from your own inner demons."

Darkseid tightened his grip around the Legionnaire's neck causing him to gasp for breath but found himself unable to get any oxygen. Seeing the danger, Brainy struggled in an attempt to get to his feet. He was 99% sure that he couldn't stop the ruler of Apocalypse but what counted here was distracting him so that he couldn't murder Rokk. His muscles burnt as he made it to his feet, ideally this would be where the reinforcements turned up and rescued them; of course that was unlikely, nobody knew they were here.

Cosmic Boy's eyes fell upon the Coluan. Darkseid had raised his weapon, ready to end the Legionnaire's life. It wasn't really a plan which he came up with, more like a desperate rescue attempt. He was just going to have to slam into the villain and hope that it would prove to be a distraction enough for him to drop Rokk.

Just as he ran forwards, a sheering pain in his back stopped him sending him crashing back down into the ground. Behind him, Tyr looked on with a smirk. It had taken him a few moments to regain consciousness but now, he was ready to continue the fight. Not that there was much of one left, his gaze ran over the mainly unconscious Legionnaires. A few were still stirring but were too badly injured and exhausted to pose a real threat.

"Pathetic..." Declared Darkseid noticing the Legionnaire's failed rescue attempt before turning back to face the struggling Braalian. "Now to end you. Your head will make a good addition to my trophy room."

Darkseid raised the piece of metal once again ready to bring it down and kill the Legionnaire with a single blow. Rokk closed his eyes, it was true he was afraid. There was a rather large difference between being willing to risk your life and not being scarred of dying. In his books, most people feared death it was probably the most natural thing to be afraid of. Somewhere in his mind, he had been prepared for this moment, after all, this would be his second time killed in action, if that wasn't an achievement he wasn't sure what was.

Two regrets lingered with him however both concerned his family. Number one was of course his unconscious wife and the second was his son, still a captive somewhere in this terrible place. _I'm sorry Zephyr... _He thought to himself. _I tried my best little man._

"_I know you did._"

Rokk's eyes widened abruptly as a familiar voice echoed through his mind. Darkseid abruptly let out a yell of pain before turning to glare at his attacker. Zephyr stood there, he was afraid but didn't plan on letting it show.


	16. Chapter 16

"The others must have escaped as well! Find them!" Ordered Darkseid to his minions who swiftly ran off. "I will deal with the child."

Zephyr was scarred, he didn't know how to fight. He had no experience with active combat let alone against a foe as powerful as Darkseid. His little thought blast had only served to anger him. More of a little sting than an actual attack. Then again, he hadn't wanted to risk knocking himself out only to find that his attack had left the villain unharmed. Upon noticing the freed prisoner, Darkseid dropped Rokk who fell to the ground roughly.

"_You have a lot to explain!_" Zephyr told his father telepathically.  
>"<em>You've got to run!<em>" Cosmic Boy told him desperately. "_You can't fight him Zephyr!_"  
>"<em>I'll admit I'm rather surprised that you and your friends managed to escape.<em>" Darkseid hijacked their conversation. "_You will make fine soldiers but for once, your father is right: if you fight me Zephyr Krin, I will kill you._"  
>"<em>You'll kill my father if I don't.<em>"  
>"<em>Your father? It's more of a push to call him that than you believe.<em>" Darkseid declared with a smirk looking down at the fallen hero. "_I know for a fact that you don't know the first thing about your father._"

Zephyr froze wondering what he meant, his eyes made their way down to the floor. His father gave him a sorry look. Their eyes met for a couple of moments before he turned away and lowered his head ashamed. The boy paused for a moment horrified. He had been expecting a flat out denial or at least an explanation. His inability to look his son in the eye was as good as a confirmation to the young teenager. All of a sudden, he felt a powerful telepathic force push against his mind. He was only just quick enough to raise his barriers; a second later, Darkseid would have been in his mind and it would have been game over.

"_Low blow..._" Zephyr muttered through clenched teeth.  
>"<em>Consider this your first lesson in telepathic battling. Never let anything distract you.<em>" Darkseid informed him.  
>"<em>Zephyr run!<em>" His father repeated this time it was more of a desperate plea than anything else.  
>"<em>Too late for that...<em>"

Rokk couldn't have known that his son was already very much in a heated telepathic battle. He struggled against Darkseid's mind. Trying desperately to keep it out of his own and push it backwards. He had never before been in a situation like this. Well, once, when he was a kid he had stolen some cookies from the cookie jar and his mother had tried to use her telepathy to make sure that he was the actual culprit... Although of course, she hadn't inflicted any pain something which Darkseid was currently doing.

Come to think of it. That incident had happened in Lightning Lad's house. He cast his mind back slightly, had that been when they were living away from his father? He let out a silent scream as his foe took advantage of his lack on concentration to push further his attack. Timber Wolf raised his head to see the boy in trouble. He wanted to help personally but found that the pain in his muscles prevented him from getting to his feet. He needed a while to recover... They all did. Still, he needed some advice if he wasn't going to end up a vegetable. Although no telepath himself, he had witnessed the boy's mother in many battles and he was fairly sure he knew why the teenager was struggling.

"Zephyr!" He called out. "Listen, you have to concentrate! Forget whatever he's saying to you! It's sprock! Just fight him."

The young telepath nodded weakly in acknowledgment. The difficult thing about witnessing a telepathic battle was that it was impossible to help your friend short of physically attacking their foe. In this case, none of the Legionnaires were in any state to provide anything past moral support... They were quite powerless as they watched the boy battle to the best of his ability. To them, nothing much was happening. Darkseid and Zephyr just seemed to be starring at each other. Every now and then, the teen would wince and appear to be in a certain degree of pain. The vein on the side of his head was bulging.

Zephyr struggled desperately, he hadn't anticipated Darkseid to be this powerful. Scratch that, he hadn't expected him to be such a good telepath. He'd figured that his telepathy wasn't quite as powerful as his own since Esper had given him a helping hand when they had looked back into his memories. Perhaps she had only done that to speed things up and to prevent a lengthy telepathic battle. Who knew, perhaps his mother would have won this one easily had she been awake and it was only his inexperience which was making things difficult.

"_If you knew what was good for you, you'd surrender young telepath._" Darkseid advised. "_You have power it is true but have never had the practice to know how to use it properly._"  
>"<em>I'm not so sure...<em>" Zephyr replied telepathically.  
>"<em>What?!<em>"  
>"<em>You're forgetting, I've been using my telepathy since I was six!<em>" Zephyr reminded him. "_I've had all my life to practice! Because it's the only way that people can hear me! Even monsters like you!_"

Darkseid fell backwards brutally as his mental defenses crumbled under a powerful telepathic surge... Zephyr struggled not to fall over, it felt as if a huge weight had suddenly been removed from him. Feeling a little light headed, he brought his hand to his forehead. Staggering slightly, he took a few deep breaths and regained his composure. The villain sat on the floor momentarily stunned. The Legionnaires starred at him with their mouths open, his victory came as quite a surprise, all be it a pleasant one.

Zephyr grabbed his head as some images and memories flashed through his mind. It took him a moment to realize that they in fact didn't belong to him but rather to Darkseid himself. He must have picked them up when he had barged down the villain's defenses. It took him a moment to put them all together and come up with a story he could comprehend. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel a small amount of sympathy for the New God...

"Zephyr move!" The desperation in his father's scream caused the teen's blood to run cold.

The young telepath found himself being literally ground into the dirt. A powerful kick sent him skidding along the hard ground. There seemed to be a slight delay between when he received the blow and when the pain actually first struck him. He found himself instinctively curling up into a ball as his chest felt like it had just been shot at close range by a cannonball. Simply taking a breath of air hurt, he let out a little cough and a wheeze. He managed to open his eyes to see Darkseid slowly walking towards him.

He tried to get to his feet but a powerful first grabbed him and picked him up. Rokk struggled desperately to get to his feet at he saw his son being smashed into a wall. His right leg screamed at him telling him that it was broken and wasn't ready to be walked on. Regardless he got to his feet intent on helping Zephyr. He took a single step forwards before his leg gave way and he fell back down. He looked up to see the teen being slammed down hard against the solid concrete floor.

"Stop it!" Screamed Triplicate Girl regaining her consciousness. "You'll kill him!"

Darkseid paid little attention to her words. Continuing to smash the telepath against the walls and floor. He seemed to be consumed by a blind rage of some kind. Then out of nowhere, a powerful beam of lightning zapped him in the back. He let out a yell of pain, distracted for a few moments. A second body crashed into the New God's back knocking him forwards and causing him to release the teenager. Garth caught the boy before he fell to the ground.

The Legionnaire expected to be attacked in turn for having interfered. He was ready, with any luck, he would be able to distract the villain enough for him to forget about the telepath. He glared menacingly at Darkseid daring him to move and attack once again. He didn't however, he remained at a distance, his cold red eyes displayed no emotion. Then, very slowly, he turned his back on them and walked a few feet away.

"You do not pose a threat to me Garth Ranzz." He declared coldly. "None of you do. However you may yet be of use to me."

The Legionnaires watched through cautious eyes, expecting it all to be a ruse of some kind and for another attack to follow. Instead, Darkseid seemed to settle in his throne. He closed his eyes so that he appeared to have drifted off into a sleep. Lightning Lad was more than certain that he was still completely aware of his surroundings however and had simply lost interest in what he perceived as the maggots around him. _No bad thing for us..._ The Legionnaire thought to himself.

Once he was convinced that they were relatively 'safe', he turned his attention back to the teenager in his arms. Zephyr was almost completely limp. His eyes were shut tightly in an attempt to block out the world around him. Pain was etched over his face. What concerned Garth slightly more was the blood coming out of his mouth. Although no doctor, he could tell that many of the telepath's bones had been shattered, least of which were his ribs. He had initially believed the boy to be unconscious but found himself surprised as a pair of pink eyes looked up at him hazily.

"_D- Dad?_" Came a weak telepathic voice in his head.  
>"<em>Nah, it's me Chief...<em>"  
>"<em>Uncle Garth...<em>" Zephyr realized, his voice sounded completely exhausted. "_I'm having a little trouble using my telepathy._"  
>"<em>I'd say that's pretty normal.<em>" Garth paused for a moment. "_Listen Chief, you're a little bashed up-_"  
>"<em>No sprock...<em>" The teen cut him short.  
>"<em>You wouldn't use that sort of language in front of your parents!<em>" Lightning Lad pointed out half-amused. "_Now, I'm gonna carry you over to Brainy so he can have a look at you. This is probably going to hurt but you've got to try not to move too much okay._"  
>"<em>Alright...<em>"

Lightning Lad picked the teenager up as gently as he could. He was aware that in his condition, they should avoid moving him as much as possible but in this case the one man who could help him was only just conscious and in all likelihood too injured to move himself. The teen's muscles tensed up and he let out a sharp gasp of pain but didn't thrash around as Garth had initially feared he would. He carried his best friend's son over to the current leader of the Legion; the teenager seemed to weight half of what he should have. He wished that they could have made him a bed of some kind to make him more comfortable and to avoid having to lay him down on the hard ground but unfortunately they had nothing to make one with.

"_Am I-_" There was a pause in Zephyr's voice; Garth wondered if it was due to his difficulty maintaining his telepathy or fear. "_Dying?_"  
>"<em>What?! Of course not Chief!<em>" Garth gave him a reassuring albeit false smile. "_Don't go putting things like that into your head!_"  
>"<em>Good to know... How's mom?<em>"  
>"<em>I'm afraid she's in a healing trace but you know she gets out of those eventually.<em>" Garth declared contemplating the unconscious Legionnaire.  
>"<em>And dad?<em>"  
>"<em>Your dad's coming...<em>" Garth assured the telepath. "_You wanna talk to him?_"  
>"<em>Yeah, thank you...<em>"

Cosmic Boy was standing back somewhat. His face was pale white with a mixture of shock and horror. Garth noticed that his old friend was physically shaking. He seemed to have understood that his son wanted him as he staggered over, still limping but not as badly as he had done before. The father knelt down by his son's side, the boy looked out of him out of his peripheral vision unwilling to hurt himself further by moving his head.

Brainiac 5 starred at the boy rather helplessly. He could tell just at a very brief glance that this wasn't good. Zephyr took largely after his mother; telepaths were renowned for having incredibly powerful minds, their bodies however were often far weaker. Certainly, they weren't designed for being repeatedly smashed into a wall by a New God with super strength. He had broken a considerable amount of bones and he suspected that he was also suffering from some internal hemorrhaging to boot.

"_You never said, you were a Legionnaire._" Zephyr reproached his father.  
>"<em><strong>Was<strong>__... I __**was**__ Zephyr. A long time ago..._" He paused looking away for a moment. "_A lifetime ago..._"  
>"<em>Why didn't you say?<em>"  
>"<em>I had my reasons.<em>" Was all he could find to reply.  
>"<em>What did Darkseid mean? Why can't I call you my dad?<em>"

All of a sudden, Zephyr tensed up as a wave of pain ran through his body. He gritted his teeth together tightly. It lasted for a few moments before he seemed to calm down once more and relaxed. He had turned pale white, closing his eyes for a few moments he tried to catch his breath. Rokk closed his eyes trying to block out what was currently happening, he tried to tell himself that it was all a nightmare and that he would wake up soon in his house with his family safe and sound.

Brainiac 5 turned back to look at his friends and shook his head negatively. They looked on for a moment in disbelief, as if they were unable to comprehend what he had just told them. A knot formed in Cosmic Boy's throat as he struggled to hold back tears. He gently took his son's hand in his own causing the boy to open his eyes once more. He looked at him surprised for a few moments before tightening his grip on his father's hand.

"_I don't care what he said!_" Zephyr declared some fear slipping into his voice. "_You're still by dad..._"  
>"<em>Zephyr... There's something you've got to know-<em>"  
>"<em>Darkseid triggered that part of my memory already.<em>" The teen guessed what his father was going to say. "_I'm not sure what got into you that one time but it doesn't matter, so long as it's gone right?_"  
>"<em>It's no-<em>" Rokk stopped himself, the last thing he wanted was to worry his son.  
>"<em>Can you tell the others that their kids are safe?<em>" The teen requested weakly. "_I just got separated._"  
>"<em>Okay.<em>" Cosmic Boy broke out of telepathy for a moment. "The others are safe..."

For a moment, the Legionnaires present felt some relief. Knowing that somehow their children had escaped and were safe. It was something of a bittersweet moment however as they realized that they were still being pursued by Hunter, Tyr, the Persuader and Validus. The odds were stacked against them making it off of the planet... For Zephyr, that chance had already been taken away from him. As parents themselves, they found it impossible to imagine what Rokk must have been feeling as he held his dying son or rather they preferred not to imagine.

"_I'm dying aren't I?_"  
>"<em>No, you're just a little hurt. Brainy's going to-<em>"  
>"<em>Please don't lie!<em>" Zephyr looked up at him with begging eyes, it took his father a moment to notice that there were tears forming in them. "_I can sense when you're not telling the truth._"  
>"<em>You're not-<em>" The words caught at the back of his throat. "_I'm so so sorry Zephyr, for everything._"  
>"<em>You're my dad, dads are never...<em>" Zephyr's voice trailed off suddenly. "_...Perfect._"

Rokk felt his son's telepathy slowly fade away. He no longer had the strength to keep it maintained. Rendered completely silent, the teen gave his father a tearful look accompanied by a reassuring smile. The father returned the gesture. Then, slowly, Zephyr closed his eyes as if he were simply falling asleep. Cosmic Boy struggled to hold back tears as his son took a couple last deep breaths. He let out a sigh, then the telepath's body became limp. His head fell to the side slightly and the hand which had been holding on so tightly to his fathers let go and hit the floor.

Rokk simply starred down sadly at the teenager as if he couldn't quite process the fact that he was no longer alive. He brushed some of his son's hair out of his now closed eyes. A few tears made their way down his face, leaving marks on his dirty face.

"Zephyr..." He muttered.  
>"Rokk, he's gone..." Brainy regretfully informed him.<br>"I should've told him-" Cosmic Boy sobbed loudly. "He was going to be a brother."

Shrinking Violet placed a hand on her old friend's shoulder. It was as if it opened the floor gates. Rokk was no longer able to contain his sorrow. He held the body of his teenage son and let out a pained yell filled with rage at having his own flesh and blood murdered right before his very eyes. The other Legionnaires watched helplessly, unable to bring the teen back or to ease his father's suffering.

Lightning Lad turned his head away unable to watch any longer._ Uncle Garth..._ The words echoed through his mind causing him to close his eyes in an attempt to block out the world around him. A few tears to flow down his cheeks. Zephyr was in many ways his nephew, not only because of the close bond that he shared with his fellow founders. He had known Zephyr for the boy's entire life, he had frequently acted as his babysitter. It was the telepath himself who had begun calling him "uncle" something which had amused his parents to no end. In truth, he had always considered the Krins and their son to be family; after all, he was the boy's godfather...

He turned to look at Timber Wolf and Triplicate Girl who were by Saturn Girl's side ensuring that she was recovering. Both were in shock and couldn't take their eyes away from the weeping Legionnaire and his son.

"Probably best Imra wasn't awake to see the little guy go" Timber Wolf declared solemnly looking down at the senior Legionnaire.  
>"She knows..." Garth spoke finding his voice to be a little broken.<p>

Sure enough a single tear made it's way down the sleeping telepath's cheek. She had always been connected to her son. It wasn't a telepathic link, not as such... Simply she had always been able to somehow know when he was in pain or needed her. She knew what had just happened...

Her friend's electric blue eyes found their way to Darkseid, still sitting unmoved on his throne. An uncontrollable rage began to settle in until he found himself physically shaking. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath wondering if he should try and calm himself down or not. Opening his eyes abruptly, he turned to look at his allies. Many of them were back on their feet. He gave Zephyr a final sorrowful glance.

"I don't know about you guys..." He spoke to the other Legionnaires. "But I'm up for round two. And this time, no holding back!"  
>"Fools..." Darkseid declared turning his head to look at them.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

The rest of of the children ran through the seemingly never ending corridors. They weren't too sure where they were going but away from Darkseid was good enough for them. Although the lack of one of their own concerned them, none of them had dared speak since they had been separated. Zephyr was the oldest amongst them, not the oldest of the Legionnaires' children but the oldest to have been taken. With him gone, it was Damian who had assumed command and he had already proven himself to be a rather unpleasant character. For his twenty minutes as leader, he had insulted each and every one of them, referring to them by their family names only.

"Kent! Do you think you could break through these walls?" He asked Connor.  
>"I dunno, maybe?" The young son of superman replied. "One or two but this is like a maze. I think it would be kind of pointless."<br>"I'll decide what's pointless and walking around in circles like this is!" The young robin replied curtly. "Does anyone have any ideas? Londo?"

Aria seemed to have snapped into a trance of some kind. She starred blankly into space before sniffing the air a couple of times. Before anyone knew what was happening, she was sniffing the ground like a bloodhound. The kids exchanged glances and raised eyebrows wondering what on earth had possessed the usually quite calm girl. She sniffed around for a few moments before she seemed to catch something's sent. Instantly, she jumped back up a look of joy on her face.

"My dad's here!" She declared.  
>"What? How'd you know?" Xio asked.<br>"I can smell him!"  
>"Impressive..." Ema noted studying Phantom Girl and Timber Wolf's daughter from head to foot. "You must have inherited some of Timber Wolf's abilities..."<br>"I think we all have a little something for our parents." Jethro replied. "I mean; you've got your parents brains and can shrink, Ema and Drake can zap lightning, I get dreams, Xio can grow, Kon's got superstrength, we all know that Zephs is telepathic..."  
>"Maybe that's why they took us." Ema suggested timidly. "Because, we have powers."<br>"Don't know, don't care." Came Damian's reply. "Do you think you can track your father?"  
>"I'm fairly sure."<p>

They followed Aria. She was 13 years old, the eldest of Timber Wolf and Phantom Girl's children. They had another daughter but she wasn't even three yet. She was rather more like her father than her mother, far more reserved and less bubbly than the President's daughter. Until, this moment, they had assumed that she was powerless. Apparently they had been wrong. It caused Ema to wonder whether or not Darkseid had been counting on them developing their powers here. Had he been planning to create an army of some kind?

Then, they heard an explosion. It sounded like Timber Wolf and any Legionnaires accompanying him had just encountered Darkseid and his minions. In an way, it encouraged the kids to speed up and try and find them. The idea of reinforcements from the Legion gave them a mixture of vitality and hope. With their hundred plus members, they should be able to defeat nine villains. Who knew, maybe they would even receive some help from the heroes of the past! After all, if Connor and Damian were here, why wouldn't their parents come looking for them?

They stopped dead as ahead of them emerged four of the villains who had captured them. Tyr, Validus, Persuader and Hunter now stood between them and their parents. Tyr stepped out in front with a smirk on his face.

"Come on kids, the game's up." He declared pointing his gun at the group. "Now you can come quietly or you can end up like your parents back there."  
>"What happened to them?" Drake asked fear in his voice.<br>"Well, let's just say Christmas got a little less expensive for you." Tyr taunted. "Now if you-"

He was cut short by Damian. The new boy wonder had leaped through the air and had delivered a swift but powerful kick to his jaw. Tyr staggered back visibly a little surprised by both Robin's strength and his violence compared to the other far more timid children. Not giving his foe any time to recover or think, Batman's son gave him a quick succession of powerful punches knocking back somewhat. Coming to the aid of his ally, Hunter swung his large spear in the boy's direction. He reacted with a quick back flip getting him away from his enemies.

"You don't honestly believe what they just said do you?!" Damian asked them. "Stop standing there like babies and give me a hand! Not that I need it, these guys are slow..."

Sure enough, he seemed to be just too fast for the villains as every blow they sent his way he dodged with ease. It was impressive seeing as he was still young, although he had been doing this for far longer than all of them put together but what made it incredible was the simple fact that he didn't actually have any powers.

Validus raised one of his mighty fists ready to squish the boy like a bug. Skilled or not, his companions decided that he might need some assistance if he was planning on making it through this alive. Connor charged forwards grabbing the giant's fist and preventing him from slamming it down by using his super-strength. The others exchanged glances before rushing forwards in turn. Using his father's ability, Xio grew to a size large enough to challenge Validus. The monster let out a fearsome roar before charging into him.

Whilst, Damian battled Hunter. Aria and Jethro decided to take on Persuader. Connor and Xio both battled Validus. Tyr found himself challenged by three foes; Drake, Elbe and Ema.

The Persuader's axe swung dangerously close the both teens and it's wielder forgot or rather chose to ignore Darkseid's instructions about bringing the prisoners back in one piece. In his mind, this was a matter of life and death preferably theirs. The teens backed away desperately trying to avoid ending up as salami. Eventually, they encountered a wall preventing them from retreating any further. Summoning her courage, Aria charged forwards. It was too late that she saw the raised axe, she instinctively closed her eyes bracing for the impact. Amazingly, the blade passed through her and she found herself unharmed.

"I guessed I'm more like my mom than I thought..." She muttered to herself.  
>"My turn..." Jethro declared with a smile.<p>

Suddenly, Persuader found that his axe had become impossibly heavy. Far too heavy for him to even try carrying. He dropped it causing him to yell in pain as it crushed his right foot. He looked up to see the two kids. Aria smiled knowingly before adopting a far more monstrous and more wolf-like appearance. A single blow from her fist was enough to send him crashing to the floor unconscious. The kids exchanged a smile before checking on their friends.

Every time Validus seemed to recover from one of the blows dealt to him by one of his attackers. The other one would deliver a seemingly stronger blow than the last. Unfortunately their battle was somewhat more destructive than the others and caused those who weren't 10 feet tall to have to jump out of the way to avoid being squished under foot like insects. The walls were shaking, something they should probably be avoiding if they wanted to keep all this discrete...

"Elbe to the right! Drake to the left!" Ema ordered.

She was a little disappointed when they got left and right mixed up but decided not to comment. This was hardly the time to be questioning their sense of direction. Tyr jumped backwards in time to avoid the two small lightning balls fired at him. Lightning Lad's two children might have been able to generate a little lightning of their own but it came out in the form of rather slow attacks. Something which was rather easy for Tyr to dodge. He fired his laser directly at Ema, she only just managed to dodge by chucking herself to one side.

"You kids don't know who you're messing with!" Tyr told them with a cruel smile on his face.

Another few blasts missed them by mere inches. Further down the corridor, Damian had successfully overpowered Hunter. Whilst he had half a mind to kill him, he realized that would likely traumatize his companions for life and earn him a severe telling off from his father when he returned home. If he ever did that was...

Instead, the boy wonder rushed to the aid of his three younger allies. He delivered yet another strong punch to Tyr. The villain was liking these odds less and less by the minute. For some reason, he found himself remembering the first time that he had done battle with these brats parents, at the time they had been brats themselves... He experienced a strange feeling of déjà-vu as he crashed to the floor when Drake and Elbe's attacks finally made contact. Rather proud of themselves, the teens turned to see how their friends were doing.

Connor and Xio were catching their breath whilst starring at the downed Valdius. They assumed that he was unconscious, it was rather hard to tell with him as he didn't exactly have a recognizably human face. After a few moments of him remaining immobile, they were fairly sure that he was no longer a threat.

"Not bad..." Damian declared picking up Hunter's spear and twirling it around him. "Well, what are you waiting for?"  
>"Huh?" Jethro didn't understand.<br>"We're going to continue on and find your parents aren't we?" Robin asked stealing some smoke pellets from the downed villain.  
>"Right..."<p>

Aria continued on leading them forwards. They walked down the corridors on high alert, aware that despite their victory, they had only taken down 4 of their 11 enemies. They expected to run into the rest of them at any moment. Not even Damian was as confident in that respect, they had only won that battle because they had outnumbered their foes and perhaps also taken them by surprise with the use of their powers. Something told the group that fighting Darkseid would be far more difficult. In all honesty, Damian wondered if the other kids would be up to the task; he might have been comparatively new to the hero game but he recognized a dangerous foe when he saw one...

"Do you think Zephyr's okay?" Elbe asked quietly fearing for her 'cousin'.  
>"I'm sure Krin's fine. He'll have made it out and is probably waiting for-"<p>

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the building. It was less of a scream and more of a roar. The children froze. The sound of pure pain and desperation caused their blood to run cold. Something was wrong, very wrong... They were fairly certain that the noise didn't belong to one of their captors. It didn't belong to a child either... They stayed perfectly still for a moment, frozen in place with fear and concern.

"Come on!" Connor ran forwards eventually. "Sounds like they might need us."  
>"Who was rescuing who again?" Damian asked the group as they sped to where they had heard the cry from.<p> 


	18. Chapter 18

**Almost finished...**

/

"At last! The full power of the Legion!" Darkseid cried aloud as he grappled with Timber Wolf in full savage wolf form. "How does it feel to finally release your true powers and potential without holding back?"  
>"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Yelled Lightning Lad as he let loose with as much lightning as he could summon.<p>

Despite everything that they tried, Darkseid seemed to only just feel their attacks. He would get knocked around more than anything else. Their physically strongest member Timber Wolf could only just manage to withstand the New God's strength. Bouncing Boy and Triplicate Girl's attacks just seemed to bounce right off of his rock-like skin. Try as she might Shrinking Violet was yet to find a way of using her powers to harm the villain. Brainy had long ago changed his blaster from stun to kill, it still remained rather useless. Cosmic Boy whose bones were now relatively healed spent his time either throwing large pieces of metal or shielding his allies with his magnetic abilities.

Telepathy was the only thing that had even seemed to harm him and that was now useless to them as Saturn Girl was still in a healing trance. Zephyr's body lay motionless at the other end of the room, he was the only reason that they were still fighting like this. Their rage at his murder had provoked each of them into a form of blood-lust causing them to attack without much care to potential injuries to themselves.

"Don't you see how powerful you could be if you simply gave in to your will to kill more often?" Darkseid asked them tossing Timber Wolf into Lightning Lad.  
>"Killing's wrong!" Brainy replied taking another shot. "What you did could never be justified!"<br>"I gave the boy a warning." Darkseid replied simply. "I told him that I would kill him as surely as he would die if he walked out in front of a car. Ultimately, he chose to fight me and therefor to die. He alone is to blame."  
>"He only interfered to protect me!" Cosmic Boy yelled in reply throwing a large beam at him.<br>"If it will ease your conscience consider death to be a release." Darkseid advised before smiling cruelly. "Of course, you would know all about death considering you've been there yourself..."  
>"He was 14! 14! Still a child!" Violet replied kicking him as hard as she could.<p>

Darkseid frowned and with a single powerful blow from his fist, he sent the remaining Legionnaires flying backwards. Brainiac 5 looked up as he walked towards him, they were all beginning to run out of steam. There was only so many blows someone could take, only so much lightning Garth could create and then of course, Cosmic Boy was completely out of practice. Speaking of, he was beginning to show some of the symptoms of loosing it. Brainy had learned to recognize them: trembling, shrinking of his pupils and starring into space. The last thing that they needed was him going berserk at the moment...

"Rokk cool it!" Garth yelled seeing the state that his friend was currently in.  
>"I- I know..." He muttered quietly through gritted teeth.<br>"We need to channel our attacks, if we want to stand any chance of dealing some damage!" Brainy told his fellow Legionnaires.

They nodded in agreement. Bouncing Boy headed Darkseid's right, Triplicate Girl went to his left. Both closed attacking their foe with everything that they had. The New God swatted them away as if they were flies. No sooner had he done that however that he received a powerful blow from Timber Wolf in the face. He fell backwards slightly before glaring at his enemy, his eyes began to glow red as they readied omega beams in order to destroy the wolf-creature. Before he could however a powerful blast of lightning joined with Cosmic Boy's magnetic powers struck him in the chest.

For the first time, Darkseid seemed to be in a considerable amount of pain. He winced and brought his hand to where their attack had struck. Most people would have been vaporized by the raw power.

"You will live to ah-!"

Darkseid was cut short as a second lightning attack hit him in the back. The Legionnaires looked at him with wide eyes before turning to see Lightning Lad. He looked just as surprised as they did and shrugged his shoulders just to confirm that he wasn't responsible for the attack. Could it be that they had finally received the reinforcements that they so desperately needed? Garth was the first to spot the two little faces looking down at him from the walkway above. His blood turned cold with terror as he recognized his two children. It wasn't long until all those present were looking up at the two children.

"No! Get out of here! Run!" Lightning Lad yelled terrified as he looked up at his children.  
>"We're gonna help!" Drake told him.<br>"You can't! Just run!"  
>"Ready? Go!"<p>

The new voice echoed out. All of a sudden out of nowhere a boy jumped down on top of the New God. He kicked him in the face before throwing a fist full of explosives into him. Darkseid again staggered backwards momentarily stunned, as he did that his weight seemed to double causing him to sink knee deep into the floor which was no longer solid due to Aria's meddling. As he struggled to free himself, he received a powerful punch courtesy of Connor followed by a massive foot trampling down on him from Xio.

"I find it hard to believe that heroes of tomorrow are weaker than the present ones." Said the first boy to have attacked. "Still, I guess the world is full of disappointment."  
>"Who are you?" Brainiac 5 asked the boy puzzled as he knew that he wasn't one of the Legion's children.<br>"Dad! This is Damian Wayne! He's from the 21st century and so's Connor Kent!" Ema rushed over to her father.  
>"Ema?!" Violet recognized her daughter.<br>"Mom!"

In a matter of moments, the Legionnaires were reunited with their children. They were too surprised to be able to tell them to run and hide. Their children were still alive, for some reason that seemed to counteract the dangerousness of the situation. The parents exchanged hugs with their relieved kids. Because of their superpowers, people sometimes assumed that both the Legion and their children were superhuman and therefor somehow immune from emotions such as fear. Fear for the ones that they loved had caused the Legionnaires to come to this planet and face one of the greatest evils the universe had ever seen. Somehow, having their children back in their arms made it all feel worth it.

"It's great to see you guys but you've got to run!" Timber Wolf was the first to recall where he was.  
>"We're fighting with you!" Jethro declared firmly.<br>"No! No, you're not!" Brainy over-ruled the boy. "You're leaving right now!"  
>"I would request that you listen to your parents." Darkseid spoke to them. "I would rather not spill any more young blood than I already have."<br>"_More_?" Ema asked suddenly feeling a sense of dread wash over her.

It was then that they noticed the body at the other side of the room. He was propped up to a 45% angle against a slab of stone, with his hands resting on his chest and his head was slightly lying back. At first glance, he appeared to merely be sleeping. He was unusually pale however and showed no signs of life. The kids starred horrified, whilst their parents averted their eyes not wanting to imagine their child in a similar position.

With the exception of Damian, who was the only one of them to have any crime fighting experience and had seen both the highs and lows of the city of Gotham, this was their first encounter with death. Making it doubly difficult was that it was one of their friends lying there. He was a little older than them sure but that made it somewhat worse, despite the fact that he was mute he had acted as their leader when it had come to organizing their escape... Many of them had known the son of Saturn Girl for all their lives, now he was gone.

Damian let out a battle cry filled with rage and charged forwards before any of the Legionnaires could stop him. Darkseid was a little more ready for him this time however and grabbed the boy's leg before he could deliver a kick. He slammed Robin to the ground stunning the teen. For a moment, the Legionnaires suffered from a case of déjà-vu remembering what had had happened to Zephyr and how he had met his end. This time however before he could continue, something interfered. The new God let out a yell of pain and dropped the Boy Wonder in order to grip his own head. He turned around to face Saturn Girl.

The look of hatred in her eyes was one that even her closest friends and allies who had known her for years had never seen before. Even though her anger wasn't directed at them, the Legionnaires felt rather uneasy, fearing that the slightest word could cause her to turn her rage against them. Darkseid was visibly struggling to avoid having his brain turned to mush.

"_I know you telepath. I have watched all of your Legion for years now._" Darkseid declared telepathically. "_You are not capable of killing me._"  
>"<em>Oh believe me Darkseid... Anything that you even remotely thought you knew about me became void five minutes ago!<em>" The telepath informed him before switching to only speaking to her friends. "_Attack him whilst I keep him busy!_"

They nodded, not doubting for a moment whether or not she was capable of keeping him busy for that long.

Dacian was the first to attack, using his powers to nullify those of Darkseid. Against somebody this powerful he was aware that the effects would only last a few moments but a few moments of weakness were all that they needed. Timber Wolf joined forces with his daughter, Robin and Connor in order to deal three separate attacks almost simultaneously knocking the New God to the floor. He struggled to get to his feet, Saturn Girl's constant telepathic bombardment made it difficult to concentrate even on the simplest of tasks.

Xio knocked him flying backwards with one mighty blow from his backhand. As he once more attempted to rise, he was hit in the face by Bouncing Boy swiftly followed by three separate punches curtsy of the trips and a beam falling on him from the ceiling as it's weight was increased by Jethro. As he lay gasping for breath, he looked up just as another combined attack from Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad struck him. The heroes heard their foe yell in pain, the light became almost too bright to look at with the naked eye causing most of the Legionnaires to look away.

When the dust finally cleared, they found that the power of the blast had literally vaporized the back of the wall and a chunk of the floor. Now Darkseid held on to a single piece of metal whilst dangling over a seemingly endless pit. The Legionnaires paused as they watched the villain struggle.

"What now Legion?" Darkseid asked. "Will you murder me?"  
>"No." Brainiac 5 declared firmly. "That's against our code, we'll take you to Takron Galtos. You'll face your punishment there."<br>"My punishment... I have already received it." The New God informed the assembled heroes. "A millienia ago, the Justice League defeated me one last time. Since then, all of my followers have abandoned me..."

"So you took our children to recreate your army? How noble..." Shrinking Violet ironized.  
>"I have done my damage, I don't believe that any of you will ever forget the name Darkseid!" The New God declared. "However if you believe that I am simply going to allow you take me captive, you are mistaken."<p>

With that, Darkseid was gone. He let go of the beam and fell. The Legionnaires couldn't have caught him even if they had tried and with such an enemy, it was fair to say that they weren't all that motivated to do so. They took a couple of deep breaths. Brainy even went so far as to peer over the ledge, he saw nothing other than the smog which enveloped the lower part of the planet. He let out a sigh, feeling as if somehow this had all come to an end... Somehow, they had saved their children, tragically they hadn't managed to save all of them however.

Zephyr had payed the price for their victory...


	19. Chapter 19

Saturn Girl knelt down next to the body of her son, for a moment she simply fixed him as if she couldn't quite understand that he had gone. Then, she lowered her head a few warm tears trickled down her cheeks. Rokk slowly went over and knelt next to her. He was aware of the telepathic link between the two of them, Imra physically ached from the loss of her son. Shaking slightly, she rested her head against her husband's shoulder. He placed his arms around her pulling her in for a hug. She continued to cry silently, Cosmic Boy didn't even bother saying anything. There were no words which could possibly comfort her or ease either of their pain.

The rest of the parents kept at a respectful distance from the grieving couple. They needed their space and privacy.

A painful silence settled in, the rest of the Legionnaires hung around awkwardly unsure of what to do. Their eyes every now and then drifted back to their friends. It was after a few moments, that Violet spotted a few tears in the eyes of her daughter who seemed unable to look away from the body of her friend. The mother slowly made her way over to her child, she gently placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. The girl looked up to see her mothers, tears glistening in her eyes. After a few seconds, she threw herself into the Legionnaire crying loudly. Brainy came over and joined in the family hug as his daughter persisted in crying.

"It's okay to cry." Brainy assured her.

Around the room, the children found comfort with their respective parents. Timber Wolf found himself shedding a few tears as he held the daughter that he had thought that he had lost for good. Both Drake and Elbe snuggled up to their very relieved father. Dacian, Xio, Jethro, Connor and although he would never admit it even Damian felt a twinge of both sorrow and jealousy as they witnessed the reunions. Their parents were on the other end of the galaxy and that was in the best case scenario, for some of them there was still the slight issue of them being trapped in the wrong millennium...

Connor was starring blankly at Zephyr's body as if he were in an trance. Robin put it down to being in shock, it wouldn't be surprising...

"Do you think we'll ever get home?" Damian asked his companion.  
>"I don't know..." Jethro replied honestly.<br>"Typical! The Legion of Superheroes! Superzeroes more like-"  
>"Shut up!" Connor commanded suddenly."<br>"What was that Kent?!"  
>"Be quiet everyone!"<p>

Connor rushed over to Zephyr's body suddenly. The boys parents looked up startled by the sudden outburst. The half-kryptonian looked down at the young teen whom he called friend. He got the absolute silence that he had requested, although nobody else was aware of just what he claimed he could or was trying to hear. He starred at him for a few moments before slowly a smile broke onto his face. The others came over curious to see just what could cause him to smile at a time like this, there certainly wasn't anything to be happy about.

"Can you guys hear that?" Superman's son asked them sounding overjoyed.  
>"No." Bouncing Boy replied plainly.<br>"Listen!" He requested, there was a brief pause as all of the Legionnaires listened.  
>"I hear it too!" Timber Wolf declared the smile appeared to be contagious. "Imra! It's Zephyr!"<p>

The boy's mother frowned slightly before suddenly catching on. She placed her head against his chest and listened. For what seemed like the longest time, she heard nothing. Then, she heard the sound that she had feared she would never hear again. A single, incredibly faint heartbeat; despite it's weakness, it's mere presence was enough to give her both hope and courage. She looked up with tears of joy in her eyes, a smile gracing her face.

"His heart's still beating!" She declared.  
>"What?.." Rokk couldn't quite believe it.<br>"He's-" She paused trying and failing to reach the boy's mind. "-in a healing trance... It's the deepest one I've ever seen. I can't reach him."  
>"We need to stabilize his condition!" Brainiac 5 declared.<p>

Saturn Girl nodded. They both knew that a healing trance didn't necessarily mean that he was safe. Quite the contrary, he had slipped into it to slow down his death; in this case from internal hemorrhage. His body however was still severely damaged, despite the trance he was still dying however his slowed heartbeat and respiratory rate might just have bought them enough time to get him to the ship where they could help him. They rushed him to the ship where an anxious and rather scarred Tim had been waiting for them.

"Where were you guys?!" He asked as they boarded the ship.  
>"Not now Tim!" Rokk commanded carrying his son through the corridors.<br>"Is that Zephyr?!" The mechanic paused realizing what was happening. "He's okay right."  
>"Hopefully." Triplicate Girl replied.<p>

They carried the boy into the infirmary and placed him down onto one of the beds. Lightning Lad raced past them and headed towards the generator room, they needed some more power if they were to get the medical unit operational and he was something of a battery.

Brainy and Violet wasted no time in getting the teen on life support. The heart monitor indicated that his heart was beating almost impossibly slowly, it was probably the slowest that it could get to allow him to stay alive. His breathing was only just noticeable. The two Legionnaires exchanged glances, despite everything they were still far from sure that they would be able to save Zephyr. The other Legionnaires and children chose to wait outside; not wanting to crowd or distract their friends. All they could do was wait and hope for the best.

"Strikes me we still have a problem..." Triplicate Girl told her husband.  
>"You mean asides the lack of food?" He asked contemplating the empty fridge.<br>"Yes, we're still stranded here." She sighed thinking about her own family. "We might not be able to get back..."  
>"Hey, relax..." He took his wife's hands. "The others will find us and I'm sure Brainy will be able to set up communications again now that we've defeated Darkseid."<p>

Triplicate Girl nodded and accepted a hug from her husband. Their quads had joined the Legion not all that long ago, they worked together as an inseparable team. Unlike Zephyr and some of the other kids, they had grown up surrounded by Legionnaires pretty much living in the HQ along side their parents and were very much loved and appreciated by all. They were eighteen now and both mother and father often missed them when they were away on missions. Doubtlessly, they along with the rest of the Legion were running over the entire galaxy in search of their missing members...

For someone who was potentially stuck in the wrong time period for the rest of his days and stranded on a distant and lifeless planet to boot, Damian wasn't all that concerned. He was far more interested in exploring and checking out all the various pieces of 31st century to see what he could learn from them. Connor, Xio, Ema and Jethro kept a weary eye on him all too aware of just what such knowledge could do to the time continuum. None of them saw it fit to stop him however partly in order to avoid a confrontation but also because they doubted he would understand enough of it to make any real difference...

Inside the infirmary, Brainy gave his wife a concerned look. They had succeeded in stabilizing his condition to a certain extent but what concerned the two Legionnaires currently acting as doctors was how weak the teenager was. If only they had realized sooner that he was in a healing trance! Then they could doubtlessly have done more to help. Now, most of their efforts were simply to keep him alive for long enough for his body to repair itself. Shrinking Violet whipped away some more blood which was trickling out of the boys mouth before checking his vitals once more. She let out a sigh before turning to Brainy :

"He needs a blood transfusion!" She declared.  
>"I know but that's easier said than done. Zephyr is a hybrid; part Braalian and part Titanian." He brought an image of the boy's DNA up on the screen. "We can't just give him a transfusion, it would kill him stone dead."<br>"Scientists found a way around that years ago, we just need to-" She paused turning to look at her husband realizing that he already knew what she was telling him. "Brainy what is it?"  
>"I don't want to give him Cosmic Boy's blood."<p>

Brainy's response surprised her. Despite their rather limited facilities, they would be capable of creating a blood which would be safe for Zephyr rather easily. So why was her husband to reluctant? She could see no logical reason to deny the boy the medical assistance which could potentially save his life. Unless, he had specified Rokk's blood her mind cast back to that incident a few days ago back on the ship when Cosmic Boy had gone completely berserk and then there were Darkseid's odd words concerning the old leader of the Legion...

"Brainy what's wrong with Cos?" She asked growing concerned.  
>"Darkseid was right, Rokk's going to die. He'll tare himself apart one of these days." Was all that Brainy would say. "I'm afraid, if we give Zephyr any of his blood, then he'll have to face the same fate."<br>"What are we talking about? A virus? A prion?"  
>"Rokk's DNA itself..." Brainy muttered. "We can't give it to Zephyr. Frankly, it would be kinder to let him die here."<p>

Violet looked at him horrified by the mere suggestion. It begged a question which she was afraid to ask again and was fairly certain that Brainy didn't want to answer : just what was so wrong with Rokk that death was preferable to it?

She turned back to see Zephyr, it was true that for the past few years she had loathed his father but she could recall Imra bringing the boy to meet some of the Legionnaires and play with Ema. He was always such a happy and playful lad, it seemed wrong to imagine him dying out here... Not after all this... There had to be something that they could do! People often forgot about her, _Brainy_... Well, it was all in the name wasn't it? They often neglected to think about the Legion's second great intellect for Shrinking Violet was no idiot...

"We could still make Saturn Girl's blood safe for him... We'd need more of it though." She muttered. "It's not ideal but it's the only chance the little guy's got."  
>"Vi you're a genius! I'll go get her." Brainy declared running out to find the telepath.<br>"You just hold on a little longer..." She spoke softly to the child, praying that he possessed his parent's strength.

Rokk sat down on the bed of their room, he fixed his hands blankly. Every second seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Imra kept an eye on him, neither had spoken to one another since they had begun waiting. There was nothing to say... Cosmic Boy paused suddenly as he noticed that his hands were shaking like leaves. His eyes were wide with concern. He instinctively, reached into his pocket to pull out his tube containing his medication. One pill remained at the bottom... Rokk froze as he realized that this would be the last time he was able to calm himself...

He weighed up his options; now or later? When was he more likely to need it? He let out a sigh and slipped it into his mouth, swallowing it whole. The pressure he was currently under wasn't helping. Stress often caused him to suffer these little outbursts. There was a time when Brainiac 5's medicine had knocked them on the head instantly and he wouldn't have another one for months. Now, they still prevented the attacks but more were sure to follow; the delays between them were becoming increasingly short.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" Imra asked him softly.  
>"I can't keep this in check much longer..." He sighed painfully. "Either Brainy's going to have to come up with a miracle cure or a hard decision's gonna have to be made..."<br>"Lets not think about that..." Imra requested resting her head against her husband's shoulder. "Zephyr's going to be fine, you'll see."

Rokk didn't answer, Imra hadn't seen first hand what had been done to the boy. She had been sparred that horror by her healing trance. The sound cracking as his son's bones gave way still haunted him and rung through his ears. He closed his eyes feeling the sedative slowly take effect, it wasn't uncommon for him to end up falling asleep following his taking some. Imra gently ran a hand through his hair, he smiled faintly to himself. His mind was too clouded and dull to allow him to think properly about everything that was going on. She let out a sigh as she noticed how drowsy he had suddenly become.

She hated drugging him up like this but it was the only way to prevent him from losing control once more. All of a sudden, she sensed Brainy coming looking for her, specifically _her_ and not Rokk. It concerned Zephyr. She contemplated her husband for a moment, he was only just conscious and was in no condition to walk anywhere anyhow. She got up, he looked at her through hazed eyes, she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You just rest... Sleep if you can." She advised smiling softly. "Brainy and Violet need my help."  
>"Imra..."<p>

She knew that he wasn't capable of thinking correctly like this, so stringing together a chain of intelligible words was an impossible task. She leaned forwards and kissed him gently on the forehead. Behind her, the door opened to reveal Brainiac 5, he took one look at Rokk and realized what had happened. Imra nodded telling him that she knew what was going on. She gave her husband one last sorry look before heading off with Brainy. They walked down the corridor. The leader of the Legion, cast a glance around to make sure that nobody was within earshot.

"I've come up with a new solution to Rokk's condition." He declared in a low voice.  
>"Really?" Imra asked hopeful for a moment before she caught sight of Brainy's expression.<br>"It would stop his attacks but-" He let out a sigh. "-The fact is that there is no cure... This procedure will stop his attacks but it won't save him..."  
>"At the end of the day, it's his decision." Saturn Girl muttered. "What did you need me for?"<br>"A blood transfusion, Zephyr's dangerously weak." Brainy replied. "You're okay with that aren't you?"  
>"Of course."<p>

Saturn Girl entered the infirmary. Her eyes instinctively fell upon the inert body of her son. It was hard for her to see him like that; she reproached herself telling herself that she should have done more to protect him and that it should have been her there not him. She gently brushed some of the boy's fair hair out of his eyes whilst Brainy and Shrinking Violet got their equipment ready._ I hope you can somehow hear me Zephyr, you're a real hero..._ She thought to herself.

"Saturn Girl, we're going to need quite a bit of your blood." Shrinking Violet informed her.  
>"You can have it all if it'll help him." The mother replied.<br>"You might want to lie down." Violet recommended. "You'll probably feel a little lightheaded after this."

It didn't take long to get the blood that they needed. Imra felt a little weak afterward but as she had told them, she would gladly have given all her blood to save her son. Brainy and Shrinking Violet quickly set about processing it so that they could safely transfer it to the young telepath. Most people would have passed him off as dead as they initially had; he was completely limp and didn't even react when Brainy put the needle in his arm to begin the transfusion. The Legionnaires present waited for another half hour to see if it made any difference...

The boy's vitals didn't change, which could be considered good as he certainly wasn't slipping any closer to death but it was hardly encouraging either... Saturn Girl let out a sigh before pulling up a chair and taking her son's hand.

"I'm sorry Imra but it's up to him now..." Brainy told her.  
>"You've done all you can..." She muttered not taking her eyes away from her son. "Is it alright if I stay?"<br>"Of course... We'll leave you in peace."

It was dark, well darker, it was rather hard to tell on Apocalypse just what time of the day it was but the Legionnaires were fairly certain that it was nighttime. Timber Wolf contemplated the little fire that they had started to try and keep themselves warm. It was far from ideal... Quite a few of the kids had fallen asleep, his daughter Aria was no exception. She slept on the ground next to him with a cover pulled over her to keep her warm. He smiled warmly, it was true that there was a point where he had believed that he would never see her again... Now, she was safe...

"Hey! Do you guys have anything to eat?" Tyr asked.  
>"Shut up!" Brin commanded turning to look at the captured villains.<br>"Strikes me we're gonna starve here..." Mano continued on regardless.  
>"Hey! Unless you want to end up on the menu I'd shut the sprock up if I were you!" Garth replied.<br>"You tell us not to use that language dad." A sleepy Drake told him.  
>"Sorry Drake..." The father apologized.<p>

Lightning Lad had one of his twins tucked under each of his arms. They snuggled up to their father for a mixture of warmth and reassurance. Their father had always been there for them, having never known their mother he was pretty much the only parental figure that they had. Of course, from time to time, their grandparents, uncle or aunty would look after them but they usually didn't take it very well. Any longer than a few days would stress them out and cause them to become somewhat destructive...

The father let out a sigh before looking up at the stars above. He had seen them from all over the galaxy and was used to them changing depending on just where he found himself. Tonight however, they seemed a little colder and more distant than ever...

"Kids... There's something I've got to tell you." He declared reluctantly. "It's about your mother..."  
>"She's not coming back, is she?" Elbe asked snuggling up to him a little more.<br>"No..." Garth let out quietly. "She died just after you were born."

"Why didn't you say?" Drake questioned as a few tears trickled down his cheeks.  
>"I guess... I wanted to leave you some hope." He replied after a long pause. "And I guess I didn't want to admit it to myself..."<p>

Garth's eyes widened as both his children snuggled up to him some more. He held them a little closer. It felt as if he had just removed a massive weight from his shoulders which had been looming there for years, somehow holding him back... A single tear trickled down the Legionnaire's cheek. His eyes traveled back up to the stars... Perhaps, they weren't all that dull after all... He frowned, something was different... Some of those stars seemed to be moving. They looked as if they were coming towards them.

"Timber Wolf! Look!" Lightning Lad pointed up at the sky.  
>"Oh what now?" Brin asked quickly getting to his feet.<br>"Actually... That looks like good news!" A grin quickly spread across Bouncing Boy's face.

The Legionnaires who had been sleeping or at least dozing got to their feet and cast their eyes to the sky. The lights were getting brighter as they grew nearer but it also enabled the heroes to make out their shapes a little better or perhaps even better, they were soon able to recognize the faces of the large number of Legionnaires flying towards them. That had to be the entire Legion coming towards them and at least half of the United Planet's fleet!

"Did you guys really think that you could go on vacation without us?" Asked Phantom Girl as she landed in front of them.  
>"Mom!" Screamed Aria rushing towards her mother.<p>

The hero offered her daughter a warm hug. She was joined by the various Legionnaires rejoicing in the reunion between their children and loved ones. Jethro almost knocked his mother over as he rushed forwards to greet her. Brainiac 5 felt a slight smile grace his lips as he recognized his old friend Superman, doubtlessly here to find his son. A shadowy figure discretely made its way towards Robin. Batman looked down at his young son, who looked back up at him.

"Damian."  
>"Father."<p>

The reunions lasted a few moments longer. Then it turned to simply catching up and learning just what had happened. The Legionnaires had been separated a little over a week ago and hadn't had any contact since meant that the rescue party were largely clueless as to just what was going on down on the planet below. In fact, they had stayed in orbit for some time wondering just what to do. They had been given assistance by another Titanian who had informed them that the danger on the surface had passed but that the others were trapped. They were a little disappointed to learn that they were too late to help with Darkseid but the fact that everyone was still alive seemed to counter-balance that.

"So Zephyr, how's he doing?" Dream Girl asked.  
>"He needs proper medical attention, until then it's hard to tell..." Brainy replied.<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

The Legion counsel sat around a table.

It had been twelve days since they had been rescued from Apocalypse. They had managed to tow the cruiser back to Earth where it was under repair yet again. Superman and Batman had gone back to their own time with both their sons but had promised to visit sometime. It was fair to say that things had calmed down significantly since they had made it back. That was why Brainy had chosen today to hold the meeting. It was far enough for everyone to be thinking more clearly but also near enough so that all the details were still fresh in the minds of all those present.

The Legion counsel was a group which consisted of the eight senior Legionnaires : Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5, Shrinking Violet, Bouncing Boy, Triplicate Girl, Timber Wolf and Phantom Girl. They were usually the ones who decided on most of the rules, the missions and also handled any potential disciplinary issues within the Legion itself... It wasn't that often that they got together for anything more than a coffee but with recent events they had all been expecting a meeting sooner or later.

"We've got a lot to deal with today!" Brainiac 5 announced, it was something they really didn't need telling but they had to begin somewhere. "So lets get started shall we?"  
>"Why don't we start with what the hell happened?" Phantom Girl suggested. "Where did Darkseid come from? What did he want with the kids?"<br>"We can't know for sure..." Shrinking Violet replied. "It looked like the planet was dead. I mean with the exception of the Fatal Four and Legion of Supervillains, there was nobody else there."  
>"Maybe they could tell us." Timber Wolf suggested.<br>"Yeah, cause they're always very helpful like that..." Phantom Girl reminded her husband sarcastically.

They agreed that on that front it was pretty much a dead end... There was no way to know for sure. Their enemies most certainly weren't going to help them. Which left them only theories which they had no way of verifying since Darkseid's apparent suicide. He had said himself that he had been abandoned by his followers. Why choose their children though? True, they may have been a little easier to manipulate than adults but surely he would have realized that the Legion weren't just going to let him get away with it! His exact reasoning was probably something that they would never understand and perhaps it was better that way...

"Zephyr knew, he found out just before Darkseid-" Timber Wolf's voice trailed off.  
>"We might have to wait a while until we hear Zephyr's side of the story..." Lightning Lad sighed.<p>

Saturn Girl said nothing thinking about her son currently in the Legion infirmary. He would likely pull through but that was as far as the good news went... His healing trance was by far the deepest that Imra had ever seen. They had called for some special doctors from Titan in the hopes that they would have been able to help them. They had but it wasn't much use to Zephyr and very little comfort to his parents. The bottom line was that his healing trance was too deep for them to even be able to reach him telepathically, he would be sleeping for a long time; months maybe even years.

Still, there was very much a feeling of relief amongst the Legionnaires as they realized just how close they had come to disaster... Imra had been living at the Legion HQ since they had returned from Apocalypse. Both to stay close to her son who was currently a resident in the infirmary and also her husband who was occupying one of the containment cells. Hardly an ideal situation for someone who was expecting a baby in 6 months.

"I think the second thing we need to talk about is Rokk." Triplicate Girl declared.

"It's a little complicated." Saturn Girl started.  
>"Yeah, which is why he's currently locked up like a criminal."<br>"Not a criminal." Brainy corrected. "An inmate."  
>"What like someone from Arkham?" Phantom Girl raised an eyebrow almost jokingly.<p>

"Exactly! Think of him as insane rather than evil." Brainiac 5 told her. "A lunatic to be precise. It's not a permanent state but rather something that strikes him down whenever he loses control."

The other Legionnaires starred at him flabbergasted and wondering why on Earth they hadn't been included in this little problem which their old team leader and friend was currently suffering from. As it stood, Rokk had been put into a form of cryogenic sleep to prevent him from having any more outbursts. They had considered simply continuing his medication but it was becoming increasingly and more painfully clear that it was having less and less of an effect on him. He had agreed wholeheartedly to be put into sleep, out of fear of harming his wife once more.

"What exactly is wrong with Rokk?" Bouncing Boy asked turning his gaze to Saturn Girl, Brainiac 5 and Lightning Lad. "You three seem to know."  
>"We withheld the information to prevent you from worrying." Brianiac let out in a sigh getting up.<br>"Maybe that was a mistake..." Imra muttered looking down at the table. "Remember what happened to Rokk? Remember how he came back or so we thought?"  
>"He's a clone. Yeah, we remember." Timber Wolf spoke for his comrades.<br>"What we didn't realize at the time was that Brainiac 1.0, my ancestor installed a failsafe should Cosmic Boy ever turn against him." Brainy informed them opening up several holograms. "This failsafe is literally a part of his D.N.A."  
>"That's why you didn't want to give Zephyr any of his blood." Shrinking Violet realized.<p>

Brainy nodded in confirmation. He want on to explain to them how Brainiac's programming was slowly but surely eating away at Rokk's very soul, corroding it, like waves bashing against a cliff. If the Legionnaire tried to fight it, it had been known to give him seizures. If he didn't... Well, they had all seen the results. It hadn't been until Brainy had come up with his medicine that he had truly been able to control it. Even then, if he took the pills to calm the attacks then he would often end up completely out of it.

After

"What can we do?" Triplicate Girl asked finally breaking the silence.  
>"I've come up with a potential solution." Brainy announced. "It involves creating a barrier around what remains of Rokk's consciousness to prevent Brainiac's programming from completely destroying him."<br>"I can feel a _but_ coming on." Bouncing Boy muttered.  
>"You're right." Brainy let out in a sigh. "Think of it as a dam... Sooner or later it would burst."<br>"And would that mean for Rokk?" Lightning Lad questioned concerned for his friend's well-being.  
>"He would die..."<p>

There was a sudden pause, the Legionnaires exchanged uneasy looks. That last statement seemed to linger in the air. Could they really kill one of their own? Perhaps that was the wrong way of looking at it but could they really allow one of their own to die? Admittedly, the situation did sound dire but it was hard to believe that there wasn't some other and better way. The silence lasted a few moments before Phantom Girl turned to look at Imra :

"Can't you?-"  
>"I've already tried..." Cosmic Boy's wife informed the others with a sigh. "It's like there's something blocking me..."<br>"So what, you're saying that we do this?" Timber Wolf asked.  
>"No." Imra replied. "No... There's only one person who can make that decision and I think we need to wake him up and ask him."<p>

The air seemed to sting his lungs as he inhaled sharply. He had his eyes closed to protect them from the blinding lights. Confused and disoriented, he let out a complaint in the form of a weak groan. The sound of chattering tickled his sensitive ears. He tried to move his hand only to discover that it was secured in place by some kind of restraint. Where was he? How did he get here? He couldn't remember. Fear taking over, he began to thrash around wildly in an attempt to free himself. A warm and familiar hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"Rokk! Rokk! Calm down!" The voice requested gently.  
>"Imra..." He muttered instantly remembering who it was.<br>"Just breathe." She requested. "You're still coming to."

He opened his eyes, everything seemed to be bright and hazy. He could only just make out her blonde hair and kind eyes looking down at him. Next to her stood Garth. Cosmic Boy smiled faintly recognizing his love and oldest friend. It was a good few moments before he became fully aware of what was going on around him. Brainy was there as well although he was holding back somewhat and had a far more grim expression on his face. The Legionnaire frowned as he slowly remembered where he was and how he had come to be here.

"How long's it been?" He asked those present.  
>"A little less than two weeks." Garth replied.<br>"I thought it would be longer..." Rokk muttered blinking a couple of times. "How's Zephyr?"  
>"The same." Imra told him. "His heart-rate picked up a little though."<br>"That's great but then why'd you wake me up?" He asked a little confused. "Not that I'm unhappy to see you..."

Rokk had been asked only to be woken up in three circumstances : Zephyr's awakening, his wife giving birth to their second child or another emergency. Since his oldest son was still asleep and Imra very clearly wasn't in labor, it confused the Legionnaire. He realized that it meant that there was some kind of emergency, yet everyone seemed to be rather calm... He looked around a little confused, he was still in his restraints and unable to sit up but considering how weak he currently felt that didn't pose much of a problem.

"We've-" Imra paused looking a little uneasy as she struggled to find the write words to use. "-got some news."  
>"Oh? Really? What?" He asked growing curious.<br>"There might be another solution for your condition..." Imra started.  
>"Really?"<br>"Yes but..." She let out a deep sorrowful sigh.  
>"Rokk, the procedure will permanently stop the attacks." His wife informed him. "Kind of at least but ultimately... You'll end up having one big one. Rokk, it'll kill you."<p>

He contemplated her words which were so painful to get out. A cure? Maybe that was the wrong word but a release from this torment he was in, even at the moment seemed awfully tempting... Death of course was something which he truly dreaded but then again so did most people. He glanced down at the heavy duty leather straps which prevented him from moving should he suddenly lose control and become aggressive...

"When can you do it?" He asked his companions.  
>"Rokk, you didn't think about that more than thirty seconds!" Garth told him slightly alarmed.<br>"I didn't need to." He replied somewhat blankly.  
>"You'll die..." A distressed Imra reminded her husband.<br>"And I'll live." He replied letting out a deep sigh. "Imra... I'm tired of being scared. I want to be able to hug my son and sleep next to you without worrying that I'll lose control and-" He paused for a moment wincing at the mere thought. "I don't want to hurt you again Imra... Not Again..."

Saturn Girl replied by bending over and giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead. He smiled faintly. Half an hour later, they were in Brainiac 5's lab. Cosmic Boy had been allowed to walk there seeing as Brainiac's programming was showing no signs of currently manifesting itself. Brainy was busy preparing what looked to his less well scientifically versed friends as a rather high tech MRI scanner. He had told them at least five times what it really was but they had all forgotten or rather lacked the interest to remember. Imra held her husband's hand, to her surprise she could feel no nervousness or fear eradicating from him as she had been expecting.

"We're ready." Brainy declared gesturing at the bed.  
>"Rokk..." Imra held her husband back for a moment. "You don't have to do this."<br>"_You and I both know that I do._" He thoughts were strong enough for Imra to pick them up. "_I love you Imra. I'd rather have a full day with you than live out the rest of my life either drugged up or in stasis._"  
>"Good luck buddy." Garth smiled at his friend.<br>"You'll probably lose consciousness." Brainy warned him. "And it's not likely to be a pleasant experience."  
>"So you've tried Imra's cooking then?"<br>"Rokk!"

He gave them one last somewhat goofy smile before giving Brainy the go-ahead via a thumbs up. The Legionnaire disappeared inside of the large machine whilst his friends watched concerned. Brainy kept a close eye on his screens, monitoring every second of the procedure should anything, as unlikely as it was, happen. After approximately five minutes, it was over and Rokk was released from the machine. As Brainy had predicted, he was unconscious. They gave him a quick medical examination before transporting him to the infirmary. Physically he was fine and there didn't appear to be any brain damage; theoretically, it should be simply a matter of waiting until he woke up.

It was an hour long nerve-wracking wait for his friends before Rokk Krin slowly opened his two eyes. His hazy eyes made their way around the room before falling on his wife once more. He gave her a weak smile.

"Rokk? How do you feel."  
>"I- I can't feel it anymore..." He muttered before suddenly sitting bolt upright to his friend's surprise. "I can't feel his presence! I'm free!"<br>"Uh... You might want to calm down there, Cos..." Lightning Lad advised half-amused. "You'll do yourself an injury."

They watched as an overjoyed Rokk pulled Imra in for a hug. She laughed and accepted the gesture... For a moment, the Legionnaires forgot the price that had been payed for his momentary freedom. This was the happiest that they had seen their friend in a long time. 


	21. Chapter 21

Zephyr cast his eyes out over the water. The sun was setting now, it was rather beautiful. He was on some kind of alien planet. It defiantly wasn't Earth – or if it was, there was something seriously wrong... He had never before witnessed a purple sunset. The sun itself was yellow as it would normally have been but instead of turning it's usual pinkish color, instead it was a deep purplish. It was beautiful beyond a doubt and somehow it calmed him. He didn't know why, he had every reason to be worried.

He had no idea where he was or how he had come to be here. He couldn't remember anything past a certain point... He could recall his mother, his father, Darkseid and a terrible pain. Those memories were similar to those that he retained of his time as a small child however, both blurred and vague. The more he thought about them, the more he began to doubt their existence. They didn't exactly explain how he had ended up here! He turned to his companion, perhaps he knew the answer.

"The sun's setting now, what does that mean?"  
>"It means that your time here's almost up." The teenager replied. "You'll be able to go home soon."<p>

Zephyr didn't quite understand but then again that applied to most of what his friend had said. He had met him when he had first woken up in this odd place. He had kept his company all day. Something about the lad seemed vaguely familiar, Zephyr could have sworn that he had met him before, a childhood friend perhaps? In any case, he was glad to have him here. Being alone in this otherwise deserted and strange land would have been somewhat unnerving. The young telepath contemplated everything around him and thought back to those faint memories.

"What is this place?" Zephyr found it odd that he hadn't thought to ask before.  
>"Nowhere." His companion replied. "This is a midway point between the world of the living and the dead."<p>

As insane as it sounded, he wasn't all that surprised. Here he felt no pain, he had been here since sunrise yet wasn't hungry and despite the fact that he had been walking all day, his legs were tired... Time here seemed to mean very little, he couldn't have said if he had been there for a minute or a year. He thought back to everything that had happened that he could remember, the memory of Darkseid and the pain that he had inflicted came crashing back to him like a bad dream. Slowly, fear began to form at the bottom of his stomach as he recalled more and more.

Then there was one last thing; he couldn't believe it but he was actually talking. He hadn't even tried to at first. When he had awoken here, he had simply opened his mouth and spoken to his companion rather than trying to use his telepathy. It was as if he had never been mute and had always been able to speak. Words now rolled freely off of the end of his tongue when before there had only ever been silence. He had always dreamed of being able to speak, laugh and yell like other people now he had that ability... It caused him to wonder, just what had happened to him? A terrible idea had made it's way into his mind.

"Did I die?" He asked his voice shaking slightly. "Did Darkseid kill me?"  
>"No. No, Zephyr you're safe." His companion's voice softened kindly.<br>"That voice..." The teen muttered trying to remember where he had heard it before. "Dad?"

He turned to see the teenager who had been accompanying him. His eyes widened as he recognized the young man standing before him. It was his father, Rokk Krin alright. He seemed a little different however, he was visibly younger and his hair was shorter. The boy instantly noticed that he was also wearing a hero uniform, similar to the one he had worn on Apocalypse only purple; he was also equipped with a Legion ring and belt buckle. He smiled reassuringly to his young son. The boy starred at him with wide eyes.

"How- How are you here?" He asked taking a step back. "You can't be! Not unless you're-"  
>"I am but you're not." His calm voice had a slight soothing feel to it. "You'll be able to leave this place shortly."<br>"How did you die? Did Darkseid win?"  
>"No. Darkseid lost." Rokk informed him. "I died a long time ago."<br>"I don't get it..." Zephyr muttered growing increasingly confused. "How are you here? If you're my dad and you're dead, then who's back on Earth."

Feeling totally lost, confused and frankly rather scarred, Zephyr allowed himself to fall backwards onto a large stone. He sat there without taking his eyes off of his father. The Legionnaire looked at him sympathetically, as if somehow he could understand what he was going through and how he felt. After a few moments, he came over and sat next to him casting his gaze out over the sun still setting over the water. The teen's eyes fixed him as he let out a deep and sorrowful sigh.

"I'm sorry. You wouldn't have thought it but I had everything that I was going to say to you all worked out." He let out a dry laugh. "Shows how good I am at planning."  
>"What's going on?" Zephyr asked, only wanting answers. "How'd I get here?"<br>"I guess I do owe you an explanation..." He spoke quietly. "When you fought Darkseid, you were hurt. You're Titanian side kicked in and you were sent into a Healing Trance."

"A healing trance?" Zephyr repeated a little surprised. "Is this where she ends up?"  
>"No... Not usually. Your body was so badly damaged, that your mind dove as far away as it could to allow you to recover."<p>

Saturn Girl's son thought back, he could remember the pain of being slammed against the walls and floor and his bones shattering. He recalled his uncle's friendly but sad expression having rescued him... Then everything became rather faint and blurred. His father was there... Yes he was sure of that and his mother, although she was in a healing trance... There was so much pain, he was cold and scared. Then it was as if he had simply fallen asleep and he had woken up here. His father/the younger version of Rokk had been waiting here for him. He still wasn't too clear on just who his companion here was, he looked like his father but were they the same person?

"What about you? Why are you here?" Zephyr asked his father.  
>"Me? I just thought that you might like some company, it can be a little scary winding up here by yourself."<br>"I meant, how are you here?"  
>"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" Rokk asked looking him dead in the eyes. "Do you remember what Darkseid said about me?"<p>

Again, Zephyr thought back to the last few things that he could remember before he had awoken here. He made a decision to avoid thinking about it when not necessary, they weren't exactly pleasant memories. Still, at the moment he had no choice. It was before he had tried fighting Darkseid personally, his father had just taken a serious beating... Darkseid had said something about it being a push to call Rokk his real father, about him being a time-bomb or words to that effect... It hadn't made any sense back then and he didn't understand it any more right now. Although perhaps, he might be able to get some answers...

"I'll keep on wondering, even if you don't tell me." He told the man.

"A long time ago..." He let out in a sigh as if it hurt him somehow. "I was a Legionnaire, my name was Cosmic Boy."  
>"The leader of the Legion..." Zephyr recalled the plaque that he had seen when he had visited the Legion HQ. "That was you?!"<br>"Yes, I was. In fact, I founded the Legion along side your mother and Garth." He informed the boy slightly amused by his curious expression. "We were the founding three; together, we gathered members from all across the galaxy to protect it."

Zephyr listened to Cosmic Boy's story with wide eyes. He had always been told that his father and mother had met when his father had been repairing the Legion cruiser. Never before had he imagined his father to be a Legionnaire. He had always assumed that his parents were telling him the truth, them lying was something that seemed rather unreal to him. He felt somewhat betrayed, growing up, he had always idolized the both of them. Now he learned that his trust may have been misplaced... He had only one question : Why? Why would they lie to their only son?

"Don't blame them..." It was as if Cosmic Boy was reading his mind. "They're only doing what they thought was right."  
>"Lying to me?!" He asked a little angry. "Why? What's so terrible that a lie is better?"<br>"The truth." The Legionnaire replied sadly. "The truth that I am dead."  
>"What?.."<p>

The teenage telepath got up and staggered backwards. He starred at the man. It struck him that he had said only a few minutes ago that he was dead, still somehow it was only just sinking in. He thought back again to that day in the Legion HQ, of course Cosmic Boy was dead, that plaque had said so. It had a date of death as well as the cause... He froze, thinking back to it. How was it possible? How was any of this possible?

"Brainiac killed you." He recalled remembering each of the words on the plaque as if it were burned into his mind.  
>"Yes. Yes he did." Rokk agreed looking away and down at the ground.<br>"But then how do I know you. The plaque said that you died before I was even born..."  
>"You don't know me." Cosmic Boy replied in a low voice. "Not this me at least."<br>"Stop talking in riddles and give me a straight answer!" Zephyr abruptly lost his temper and yelled.

Cosmic Boy looked at him surprised by the sudden outburst. He looked at the boy as if he had never seen him before. It was unusual for Zephyr to lose his cool; it took quite a lot to make him snap, especially at members of his family but the stress and the emotion of the moment was causing him to behave slightly out of the ordinary... The look in his father's eyes told him that he could understand and relate to that. Rokk let out a sigh and scratched the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry... You're right, you deserve one." Cosmic Boy paused for a moment in thought before letting out. "The Rokk Krin that you know is my clone. He was created to destroy the Legion but thanks to your mother, he overcame Brainiac's original programming and became the father you know."  
>"A father who hurt me and hit my mother." Zephyr recalled bitterly.<br>"Some of Brainiac's programming survived..." There was a brief silence before Rokk looked the boy in his eyes. "It's destroying him though, slowly eating away at him from the inside... He doesn't have long left."  
>"Dad..." Instantly his anger drained as he heard the revelation.<br>"It's okay... He's happy but he'll be a lot more when you're back with him."

There was a sudden whisper on the wind. One which caused Zephyr to freeze. He felt as if the breeze were somehow familiar. It seemed to be coming from the water. A couple of seconds later the gust repeated itself. _Zephyr... Zephyr... _It was calling out to him. It used a woman's voice, one very well known to him. It brought warmth and reassurance, the likes of which he had been desperately missing during his time here. He looked around desperately for the source but was unable to find it.

"It's time for you to leave." Rokk told his son, a sad expression on his face.  
>"Come with me." Zephyr requested offering his father his hand.<br>"Zephyr..." His father smiled warmly taking his hand. "My time in your world has come and gone. I don't regret one minute of it... I came here to keep you company."  
>"Zephyr..."<p>

The teen starred at Rokk for a moment sadly. He didn't want to leave him here not now that he knew who he really was... Then, he sensed something behind him. He turned to see a figure he knew all to well standing on the beach. His mother was rather transparent and ghostlike with an unnatural aura around her; still, it was very much her and Zephyr was only too glad for it. Instinctively, he rushed over to her. Her eyes widened as if she hadn't been expecting to find him here, she opened her arms and gave him a welcomed embrace.

"Mom!" Zephyr cried out loud.

"Zephy..." Was all that she could find to reply. "God, I've missed you..."

It was then that she looked up to see Rokk Krin standing there looking at both of them fondly. Zephyr also turned to see; perhaps curious to see what his mother's reaction would be. She starred at her old husband as if she had never seen him before. Imra remained frozen unable to believe who she was looking at and incapable of thinking of anything to say to him. The silence lasted a good few moments before Cosmic Boy finally broke eye contact. He laughed softly, shaking his head amused by how things had turned out.

"Rokk?" Imra questioned.  
>"Hello Imra." He gave her his warmest smile. "I'll admit, I didn't expect to bump into you here."<br>"How?.." She muttered unable to get her words out.  
>"I just wanted to tell Zephyr that I love him but I'll tell the both of you now that you're here. I love you."<br>"But you're..."  
>"I'm still here, watching. I'll always be with you..."<p>

A few tears trickled down Imra's cheeks. Rokk Krin raised a hand and waved just as the world began to fade away. The teenager starred for a few moments, as the world slowly faded away into darkness. His mother also vanished although he was still able to feel her presence. It felt as if he were falling... Falling through nothingness, then it was as if he had hit a rock. Zephyr found himself back in the confines of his own mind. He was still asleep but very much back in his body... An odd feeling after so long away from himself. He didn't have long to dwell on it however as he suddenly found himself falling asleep...

He awoke sometime later. His eyelids were heavy and felt like they hadn't been opened in a very long time. When he eventually succeeded in opening them a crack, he found himself to be blinded by the light from outside and quickly closed them once more. He let out a weak groan. Some voices nearby slowly woke his ears back up. He was a little too tired and faint to be able to make them out correctly. As weak as he was, he could only lie there and take some deep breaths in an attempt to regain enough strength to wake himself up.

He couldn't have said how much time had passed between when he first awoke and when he was finally able to open his eyes for a decent amount of time. He looked up to see the loving face of his mother looking down at him. He managed a weak smile. It took him a few more moments before he could call upon his telepathy again so as to communicate.

"_Mom..._"  
>"Hey Zephyr... Welcome back to the world of the living." His mother greeted him warmly.<br>"_How long have I been out?_" He asked trying to get his bearings.  
>"A long time..." Imra simply replied.<br>"_How long?_"

Zephyr turned his head as he became alerted by a baby's cry. What was he in the maternity ward or something? No, he didn't recognize this place... Although judging by the rather large Legion symbol on the wall, he was willing to bet that he was in fact in the Legion HQ. That wasn't what really drew his attention however it was his father or rather the baby in his arms. Zephyr had never really been any good at guessing the age of children; he would have said that this baby was less than six months old although she evidently hadn't been born yesterday.

"Uh..." Rokk sounded a little awkward. "Zephyr meet you sister."

"_My what now?_" The teen was unable to raise his head but unwilling to remove his gaze from the child. "_Since when?_"  
>"Since four months ago... I'm sorry Zephyr but you were still comatose." Imra apologized.<br>"_No it's just-_" He paused for a moment. "_Whoa..._"

He looked at the little child. She had purple eyes which reminded him of his fathers, they were fixed upon him and expressed great interest. The teen found himself smiling warmly at the little child. She made a little giggling sound which caused her parents to smile. Zephyr tried to prop himself up to look around but found himself far too weak to do so. He was barely even able to move his arms and legs let alone sustain any weight with them. He looked around feeling a little helpless. Sensing his distress, his mother gently took his hand.

"You've been asleep for fourteen months Zephyr. You haven't used your body in all that time, you're going to be a little weak."  
>"<em>Fourteen months?!<em>" He repeated appalled. "_That means I'm... 16?!_"  
>"Happy birthday?" Imra suggested.<p>

They talked for a while longer. Not wanting to dwell on what exactly had happened to him and how much he had missed. Zephyr spent most of his time asking about his young sister, Delilah Krin. It was odd for him as he had been completely unprepared for such an event, his parents certainly hadn't mentioned it as a possibility. Still, he had been asleep for so long now that everything seemed somewhat unreal. Awakening in the Legion headquarters like this caused him to doubt whether or not he was still dreaming. A visit from Brainiac 5 confirmed that he wasn't.

The Legionnaire was of course glad to see him awake. Although his current preoccupation mainly involved Zephyr's difficulty in using his muscles or more precisely how to deal with the problem.

"Unfortunately, due to your prolonged sleeping trance, your muscles have pretty much wasted away." The leader of the Legion announced. "That would be why you're having trouble moving. You have a choice, there is the tradition method of recovery which will require months of physiotherapy sessions or we can use more modern techniques but I should warn you it will hurt quite badly."  
>"<em>I'd like to be back on my feet as soon as possible please.<em>" Zephyr requested after a little thought.

He regretted his choice by midnight that night. His muscles were badly cramped causing his entire body to ache. He might actually have preferred the physio... Sure it would have been a lot longer but at least he wouldn't have felt like he had just ran a marathon twice. He turned his head slightly to one side, Lightning Lad was in a corner making himself some coffee. It wasn't that Zephyr's parents hadn't wanted to stay, they had but with the new Krin, he had insisted that they go home and get some proper rest. So the boy's 'uncle' had volunteered to stay and watch over him. The Legionnaire turned to see the teen, his gaze softened slightly.

"How are you doing chief?" He asked.  
>"<em>My body hurts a little...<em>" He replied telepathically.  
>"Well, Brainy said it might." Garth told him aware that it wouldn't be of much comfort. "I'll give you some more morpheme."<p>

Just as he did that, Zephyr's stomach rumbled and he suddenly found himself feeling rather hungry. Garth smiled as he left to prepare the teen some food. He came back about five minutes later with a bowl of soup, it smelt like chicken. The smell seemed very attractive to him considering how long he had been forced to go without any. Lightning Lad helped him up, it was a while since he had been fed, oddly enough the last time he could recall it also being his "uncle" doing the nursing. It was back when he and his mother were living with him.

"_It's been a while..._" Zephyr muttered telepathically.  
>"Yeah..." The senior Legionnaire replied. "You had us all worried..."<br>"_I meant it's been a while since you looked after me._" He paused for a moment looking at the puzzled look on Garth's face. "_I don't think I ever said thank you, for that time that you looked after me and mom, it meant a lot._"  
>"I- I thought you couldn't remember." Garth replied shocked.<br>"_I couldn't but-_" He stopped for a moment before looking into his uncle's eyes. "_Uncle Garth can you keep a secret?_"

"Sure I can."

He told him about what he had seen and heard whilst he was in his deep healing trance. Garth listened unperturbed as he told him about how he had met his father and what his father had told him. Zephyr Krin revealed that he knew who his father was or rather the fact that he was now aware that he was a clone. When he was finished, Lightning Lad simply looked at him, let out a deep sigh and turned his back, heading over to his coffee. He took a sip before turning back to look at the young telepath.

"I honestly don't know what to say to that Zephyr..." Garth replied. "I don't think that you should mention this to your parents though, it would upset them."

"_I wasn't going to._" Zephyr assured him. "_It's just- Do you think that was really my dad._"  
>"I wish I could say for sure Zephs." The Legionnaire answered after a silence. "I mean, I've never really believed in the afterlife if I'm honest but what you just said... Well, maybe your old man is watching over you. Who can say?"<p>

Zephyr smiled. He would never bring up the incident again. Like Garth had said, he had no definite way of proving what he had seen : he couldn't say for sure that he hadn't just dreamed it and his mother certainly never mentioned but he felt as if it had actually happened. He believed that his father did still watch over him. Sometimes, it would feel quite like there was something there along side him. A benevolent presence keeping him safe or somehow guiding him alone. He would smile to himself or perhaps smile to whatever was there with him...

He was allowed to go home a week later having regained enough strength in his arms and legs to be able to walk for short distances and pick up light items. It would be a while before he was entirely back to normal. Which was more than could be said for his father, he seemed to have changed beyond all recognition. He was far more cheerful, upbeat and overall seemed to be enjoying life far more. It had initially confused him, it wasn't that the change was unwelcome, quite the contrary... It was just unexpected.

One night, he had been struggling to sleep when he had awoken to find his father awake in the living room starring out of the window at New Metropolis. It was the closest that he had never seen him to reverting to his old and slightly gloomy persona. There was sadness and melancholy in his eyes which translated into pain, pure and simple.

"I wasn't able to sleep..." He explained somehow aware of his son's presence. "It's funny, I used to hate having to sleep, I saw it as a waste of time... Then, when I married your mother suddenly it didn't seem so bad. Now, I only need to sleep for about four hours."  
>"<em>Nothing's stopping you from just lying there...<em>" Zephyr pointed out. "_Just close your eyes and dream._"  
>"Dream? I have never done that Zephyr." Rokk replied.<br>"_You did once..._" Zephyr reminded him.

Rokk turned and starred at his teenage son. He still wasn't quite used to how old he looked. He had to remind himself that Zephyr was now 16 and that he had been through more hardships that most. He was no longer an inexperienced child. Any teenager who went up against Darkseid head on and managed to walk away (all be it over a year later) deserved respect. What troubled the father however was the fact that his son seemed to be aware that he wasn't all that he pretended to be. Had the boy's mother or godfather said something to him?

"_I know who you are._" Zephyr continued taking his hand. "_You're my father. Clone or not._"  
>"Your mother..."<br>"_No. I figured it out myself Cosmic Boy._"

He left his father there and went back to bed. He was just beginning to drift back to sleep when he heard his father go back to bed.

It was the next day that the Krins waited in the Legion HQ with the other Legionnaires. Everyone was there, for once the United Planets were dealing with the patrols. Zephyr's friends were relieved to see him up and walking around okay, they had all payed him various visits although with the exception of Drake and Elbe none had seen him awake. They were here for some kind of celebration, something about safely returning from Apocalypse. They had wanted to wait for Zephyr to be able to attend personally.

Now, he was here at their party it felt somewhat unreal to him. He had always wanted to join the Legion, just seeing his mother save the galaxy the way that she did was enough to strike him with awe... Being here like this was like a dream come true.

"Well, it seems like we have some long overdue business to attend to." Brainy announced proudly. "To start with, it's my honor to inform you that Rokk Krin is rejoining our ranks as Cosmic Boy."

There was a brief applause. Sure enough Cosmic Boy was standing there tall and proud in his original Legion attire. He had been told all about his father's history as a Legionnaire, as it stood he had been the longest running leader of the Legion but would likely been overtaken by Brainy in the next few years if nothing changed. In any case, Rokk had no intention of becoming leader once more, he wished to participate in regular Legion activities but nothing more. He had resigned from his old job as had Tim who had been offered the position of chief Legion mechanic. He had leaped at the chance.

"The second announcement concerns our younger members." Brainy paused for a moment looking at the teens. "After due deliberation and taking into account your heroics, we have decided to offer each of you a position on the Legion under careful supervision."  
>"What?" The kids exchanged stunned glances, why hadn't their parents mentioned this?!<br>"You would be allowed to participate in the less dangerous Legion missions so long as there was at least two senior Legionnaires with you at all times. So long as you were home before bed time..."

The kids chuckled slightly at the remark. It went without saying that they all accepted. The teens stood in line as they each received the emblem of the Legion in the form of their ring and belt buckle. Their parents watched proudly; of course they were concerned with just what this meant but somehow the idea of having the entire Legion of Superheroes behind their backs made things seem just a little safer. The children wouldn't be sent anywhere obviously dangerous and for the moment it would be mainly simple recon or surveillance missions.

It was decided that exceptionally Zephyr would be allowed to use an open broadcast to communicate with the entire Legion in order to make his pledge.

"To the Legion of Superheroes, I make this solemn pledge to use my powers for good, to fight for justice and to preserve the innocent, to aid my fellow Legionnaires in times of peril and to keep their secrets safe. Long live the Legion!"  
>"Long live the Legion!" Echoed the rest of the Legionnaires.<p>

The older Legionnaires exchanged fond and knowing smiles, they knew what joining the Legion meant. They had watched it grow over the years. It wasn't never going to be a picnic, doubtlessly sometimes these new members would wish they could give it all up but ultimately they were now part of the Legion, they were part of a family.

**/**

**I don't even want to know how many years I've been writing this for. For all those of you who have stayed with it to the end, thanks and I'm sorry for the delays. **


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